Sheldonian Theater

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Sheldonian Theater
The building near the Bodleian Library (l.) And the Clarendon Building (r.)

The Sheldonian Theater is an Oxford University event building . It was opened in 1669 and is named after its benefactor Gilbert Sheldon , then Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of the university. It is in close proximity to the Bodleian Library and the Clarendon Building .

building

The theater was architect Christopher Wren's first major project . Wren used the ancient Marcellus Theater in Rome as a template for the classical building . The ceiling painting by Robert Streter , which depicts the triumph of science over ignorance, gives the illusion of an open sky .

use

The building is used for concerts, lectures and university ceremonies such as matriculation and graduation celebrations.

At the Encaenia , the university’s most festive ceremony in June, the university's dignitaries march in a procession to the Sheldonian Theater, where the actual event takes place with honorary doctorates being awarded to well-known personalities.

The premiere of Handel's oratorio Athalia took place on July 10, 1733 in the Sheldonian Theater.

Web links

Commons : Sheldonian Theater  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Vernon Staley: T he life and times of Gilbert Sheldon: sometime warden of All Souls college, Oxford; Bishop of London; Archbishop of Canterbury; and Chancellor of the University of Oxford . Publisher: Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. Ltd. London 1913
  2. FAZ from June 25, 2010, page 35: English scene: Oxford selects its honorary doctorates

Coordinates: 51 ° 45 ′ 16 "  N , 1 ° 15 ′ 25"  W.