Medieval Studies Specialist to Give Talk on the Pantheon at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – Susan Rankin, renowned chant specialist, fellow at the British Academy and professor of medieval music at the University of Cambridge, will give a talk about the rededication of the Pantheon in Rome in 609 A.D. on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 5 p.m. in Brooks Concert Hall at the College of the Holy Cross. The event, sponsored by the music department, is free and open to the public.

Rankin's talk titled "Terribilis est locus iste: The Pantheon in 609," discusses how the chant and liturgy composed for the rededication of the Pantheon transformed one of Rome's most iconic buildings from a pagan temple into a Christian church.  Rankin will discuss how a building created as a temple to Roman, pagan gods could be transformed to a place of Christian worship. She will consider those ways in which the liturgy was used to persuade the people of Rome of a new meaning for the supremely iconic Pantheon.

Combining art history, music history, and the study of liturgy and ritual, the talk considers music's role in defining ritual space for what was then and is now the largest unreinforced solid concrete dome in the world.