laurentian library

8/7/2019 laurentian library

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Presented by:

Ashwathy R. Nair

Madonna Thomas

Parvathy K. Joshi

Shruti Thomas

Sreya Vaidyan

Roshni Anna Cheriyan





y The Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana) in Florence,Italy, is famous as a repository of more than 11,000 manuscripts and4,500 early printed books.

y Built in a cloister of the Medicean Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenzeunder the patronage of the Medici pope, Clement VII, the Library wasbuilt to emphasize that the Medici family were no longer meremerchants but members of intelligentand ecclesiastical society.

y The library is an example of Mannerism.





y Its main feature is the spectacular staircase, the idea for which came toMichelangelo in a dream, whose three flights of steps seem almost aliveas they cascade downward to fill the vestibule space.

y The vestibule leads to the orderly space of the reading room such that itconveys a sense of quiet concentration.

y The pilasters, ceiling beams, and floor pattern converge to effectively "trap" the rhythmic replicationof bays that run the length of the room.

y Michelangeloeven designed the furniture of the library's reading room





Architecture y The Laurentian Library was commissioned in 1523 and construction

began in 1525 and opened by 1571.

y The two-story Quattro cento cloister was to remain unchanged by the

addition of the library. Because of this, certain features of Michelangelos plan such as the length and width were already laid out.

y Because the walls were built on pre-existing walls, recessing thecolumns into the walls was a structural necessity.



V estibule The vestibule, alsoknown as the ricetto, is

19.50 m. long,20.30 m. wide,

14.6 m. tall (31 by 34 by 44 feet).

It was built aboveexisting monasticquarters on the eastrange of the cloister,

with an entrance fromthe upper level of thecloisters.



y clerestorywindows were incorporated into the west wall.

y Blank tapering windows framed in peitra serena, circumscribe theinteriorof the vestibule, separated by paired columns set into the wall.



S taircase The staircase leads up tothe reading room and takesup half of the floor of the

vestibule.

The treads of the centerflights are convex and vary in width, while the outerflights are straight.

The three lowest steps of the central flight are wider

and higher than the others,almost like concentric ovalslabs.

As the stairway descends,it divides into three flights.



R eading Room y The reading room is 46.20 m. long,

y 10.50 m. wide,

y 8.4 m. high (152 by 35 by 28 feet).

y There are two blocks of seats separated by a center aisle with the backsof each serving as desks for the benches behind them.

y The desks are lit by the evenly spaced which are framed as pilasters andthe system of bays they form articulate the layout of the ceiling andfloor which reduces the volume and weight of the bays between thepilasters.

y Beneath the current wooden floor of the library in the Reading Room isa series of 15 rectangular red and white terra cotta floor panels. Thesepanels, measuring 8 foot-6-inches (2.6 m) on a side, when viewed insequencedemonstrate basic principles of geometry.











y

Michael angelo was recognised for his skills as asculptor more than that of an architect.

y In all his works he believed that art was to be done inorder to show beauty and reflect the inner soul whichis not found in todays world.



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laurentian library