Are you ready to learn more about our gorgeous dome murals? For todays 125^th Anniversary fact we’re sharing a description of panels seven and eight from the artist himself – Oliver Dennett Grover. But you can learn even more about these amazing paintings, and the artist who painted them, at our talk The Art of Blackstone Library on Saturday, April 9^th at 2:00pm.

The scene of the seventh picture is laid in America and supposes a printing room in which two men dressed in the costume of Colonial times are operating what is known as the “Franklin Press,” an improvement on the old-time machines of Gutenberg and his contemporaries.

In front of the low broad window at the back of the room is seated a man at a table correcting proof and in the foreground lies a pile of books. The strong daylight from the partially draped window touching only the outlines of the figures, throws them in strong relief against the warm grey of the background, and a glimpse of sunny sky and trees seen through the small panes, gives a strong note of light and color to the scene.

The eighth and last picture deals entirely with that part of book-making which may be and often does amount to a fine art in itself. But the dress of most modern books is put on amid the buzzing of wheels and the clicking of machinery. Such a bindery is here represented as far as the artistic necessities would permit realistic representation.

Shafts, pulleys and belts, steam and electricity would hardly seem hopeful materials from which to build a decorative composition, but a careful adjustment of tones and arrangement of lines, together with its pictorial illustration of the subject, “A Book Bindery – 1895,” brings it into harmony with its neighbors and makes it a fitting ending to the series.

Are you ready to learn more about our gorgeous dome murals? For todays 125^th Anniversary fact we’re sharing a description of panels five and six from the artist himself – Oliver Dennett Grover. But you can learn even more about these amazing paintings, and the artist who painted them, at our talk The Art of Blackstone Library on Saturday, April 9^th at 2:00pm.

In “Venetian Copper-plate Printing” is shown the beginning of the modern tendency towards mechanical reproduction. In comparison with ancient methods it was an extremely rapid and labor-saving way of working. Printing from engraved or etched plates with the clumsy hand press was very early brought to a high state of perfection and for certain kinds of work has never been superseded, nor indeed materially improved upon.

The next important point in the development of the book is taken to be the introduction of movable type, and the sixth panel “First Proof – Gutenberg Bible” supposes the instant when the German inventor, Gutenberg, inspects the first proof of the now famous Gutenberg Bible as it is handed him by his assistant. His interest and anxiety is shared by the wife who stands at his side, and who, it may be believed, was equally anxious with him for the success of the undertaking. The picturesque garb of the time and the quaint details of the interior give local color and artistic life to the composition.

Are you ready to learn more about our gorgeous dome murals? For todays 125^th Anniversary fact we’re sharing a description of panels three and four from the artist himself – Oliver Dennett Grover. But you can learn even more about these amazing paintings, and the artist who painted them, at our talk The Art of Blackstone Library on Saturday, April 9^th at 2:00pm.

Number three, “Stories of the Iliad,” carries us from the land of the lotus to the shadow of the Acropolis. In the land of the ancient Greek those legends and stories finally gathered together and preserved to us by Homer in the form of the Iliad were for ages almost sung by wandering minstrels; committed to memory and transmitted from one to another, from father to son, from generation to generation.

The incident taken to illustrate this period of literary development is that of a minstrel reciting to an interested group of listeners “Stories from the Iliad,” while one of them, a Greek youth with stylus and tablet, is transcribing to enduring form the words as they fall from his lips.

In “Mediæval Illumination” is illustrated the illumination of books by white-robed monks. In the soft tones of the picture and the quiet earnestness of the three figures are suggested the infinite patience of those who, counting time as naught in living for eternity, left the world richer than they found it by the exquisite art which, in passing, paved the way for much that is best in what followed it.

It’s an exciting time here at the Blackstone! Our spring calendar is officially under way, which means the programs celebrating our 125^th Anniversary are finally here! One of those special events is a visit from Joel Dryer all the way from Chicago on Saturday, April 9^th. Who is Mr. Dryer? He’s the official biographer of Oliver Dennett Grover, the artist who painted our incredible dome! Mr. Dryer will be sharing all kinds of information about the man responsible for one of our biggest WOW factors here at JBML, and in order to get you all excited for his visit, we’ll be featuring up close looks at those amazing panels over the next few weeks. Today we’re featuring panels one and two, complete with descriptions from the artist himself:

In the decorations of the dome it is designed to illustrate pictorially and in a decorative way the evolution of book-making. The first step in this direction is presumed to be the gathering of Egyptian papyrus with a view to providing materials for scroll inscriptions, which may be regarded as the primitive book-making of the earliest time. This first picture of the series of eight is entitled “Gathering the Papyrus.”

The palm, the tall heavy reeds and the simply attired figures in the foreground show almost in silhouette against a warm sky and the reflecting surface of the river at the back, while in the distance rising from the level plain are pyramids tipped with gold by the rays of the declining sun.

“Records of the Pharaohs,” the second of the series and also Egyptian, shows another phase of that civilization in the massive architecture, the emblematic ornamentation, the calm dignity and consciousness of power of the dominant race.

The picture represents an officer of the court of Pharaoh with an attendant guard by his side dictating from a papyrus roll which lies open across his knees, to a worker who is transferring the records to the base of a monument. While in this panel sufficient license has been taken to preserve the artistic harmony and decorative composition, the detail of character, costume, ornament and architecture is carefully studied and accurately rendered from correct and acknowledged authorities.

Today’s 125^th Anniversary Fact is picture perfect! Have you ever wondered what the gold strip between the lights of the rotunda was for? It has nothing to do with the lighting, and is in fact a very old piece of technology that was added to the library long after it fell out of use more generally. Any ideas? No?…It’s a picture rail! Picture rails were a common feature on buildings with plaster walls. Plaster was expensive and difficult to repair, so one had to be very sure when hanging something on the wall. Enter the picture rail. These rails went around the outside of a room, and are not flush to the wall. This allows for pictures to be hung from hooks attached to the rail rather than hanging them directly onto the plaster walls. The rotunda did not have a picture rail in the initial construction, but this one was installed within the last 20 years to make hanging artwork in the rotunda feasible. Marble is even more difficult to hang artwork from than plaster, so although picture rails are out of fashion, this turn of the century technology suits the space in more ways than one!

Are you ready to learn about another architectural detail of the Blackstone Library? For today’s 125^th Anniversary Fact, we’re sharing what is by far the most common motif sprinkled throughout the library. The library is home to hundreds of rosettes in marble, wood, and metal, but what exactly is the humble rosette? A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity, appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral sites in Ancient Greece. It was adopted later in Romanesque and Renaissance, and also common in the art of Central Asia, spreading as far as India where it is used as a decorative motif in Greco-Buddhist art. Since the library is modeled on the Greek Erechtheion (Temple of Athena), it makes sense that the building would feature an architectural detail so popular with the Greeks, as well as the rest of the ancient world. The next time you’re at the Blackstone, see how many you can find!