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H. Siddons Mowbray's decorative scheme for the lunettes in the Library incorporates two series of figures. Representations of "muses" and their attributes, derived from Pinturicchio's sibyls in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome (ca. 1508–9), alternate with cultural luminaries of the past. Beginning directly above the fireplace and moving to the right, these figures are Dante Alighieri, Comedy, Sandro Botticelli, Painting, Michelangelo Buonarotti, Architecture, Antonio da Sangallo, Poetry, Socrates, History, William Caxton, Music, Herodotus, Science, Galileo Galilei, Astronomy, Christopher Columbus, and Tragedy. In the hexagonal spandrels above the great men and their muses are the signs of the zodiac, accompanied by their ruling deities from the Roman calendar. They are modeled after Baldassare Peruzzi's paintings for the garden loggia of the Villa Farnesina in Rome (ca. 1508–11). There the pictures of the constellations relate to the horoscope of Agostino Chigi, the renowned banker for whom the villa was built. Similarly, the zodiacal signs on the Library's ceiling have been arranged in ways that were meaningful to Morgan. The two signs above the doorway, isolated from the rest, are those of Aries and Gemini. These correspond, respectively, to Morgan's birth date (April 17, 1837) and to the date of his second marriage to Frances Louisa Tracy (May 31, 1865). Thus Morgan would walk under his two "lucky stars" each time he entered the room. Opposite Aries is Libra, the sign Morgan assumed as a member of the Zodiac Club, a New York gentlemen's club; and opposite Gemini is Aquarius, the sign under which his first wife, Amelia "Memie" Sturges, died. Two themes drawn from the myth of Proserpina underscore the cyclical nature of the heavenly progression. Beginning above and to the left of Dante's portrait and reading clockwise, the spandrels depict: Aquarius, the water carrier; Neptune enthroned Libra, the balance; Mars and Venus Pisces, the fishes; Minerva, with Perseus holding the head of Medusa Scorpio, the scorpion; Diana and Actaeon Leo, the lion; Ceres, goddess of agriculture Capricorn, a unicorn; Juno Pluto abducting Proserpina from the Underworld Aries, the ram; Venus and Cupid Gemin, the twins; Mercury Mercury rescuing Proserpina from the underworld Sagittarius, the archer-centaur; Vesta with the eternal flame Cancer, the crab; Jupiter enthroned with Juno, his wife Virgo, the Virgin; Vulcan at his forge Taurus, the bull; Apollo and Hercules Continue » Library & Study | Public Institution | Renzo Piano |
