Temple of Janus (Roman Forum) Temple of Janus (Roman Forum) In ancient Rome, the main Temple of Janus as it is often called, although it was not a normal temple, stood in the Roman Forum near the Argiletum. It had doors on both ends, and inside was a statue of Janus, the two-faced god of boundaries. The doors (the "Gates of Janus") were closed in times of peace and opened in times of war. According to Livy 1.19 the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, decided to distract the early, warlike Romans from their violent ways by instilling in them awe and reverence. His projects
The Gates of Hell The Hôtel Biron became the Musée Rodin housing a cast of "The Gates of Hell" and related works. Rodin conceived that people would walk toward the work, perhaps up a flight of stairs, and be overwhelmed frontally by the massive gates, contemplating the experience of hell that Dante describes in his "Inferno". Rodin thought particularly of Dante's warning over the entrance of the Inferno, "Abandon every hope, who enter here." A work of the scope of "The Gates of Hell" had not been attempted before, but inspiration came from Lorenzo Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise" at the Baptistery of St. John,