Chapter 14

Fig. 97. Ground-plan of part of the Vatican Palace, shewing the building of Nicholas V., as arranged for library purposes by Sixtus IV., and its relation to the surrounding structures. From Letarouilly, Le Vatican, fol. Paris, 1882; as reproduced by M. Fabre.Fig. 97. Ground-plan of part of the Vatican Palace, shewing the building of Nicholas V., as arranged for library purposes by Sixtus IV., and its relation to the surrounding structures. From Letarouilly, Le Vatican, fol. Paris, 1882; as reproduced by M. Fabre.

The floor is divided into four rooms by party-walls which are probably older than 1475, but which are proved, by the catalogue of 1481, to have been in existence at that period. The first of these rooms, entered directly from the court, contained the Latin Library; the second, the Greek Library. These two, taken together, formed the Common, or Public, Library (Bibliotheca communis,B. publica, or merelyBibliotheca). Next to this room, or these rooms, was theBibliotheca secretaor Reserved Library, in which the more precious MSS. were kept apart from the others. The fourth room, which was not fitted up till 1480 or 1481, was calledBibliotheca pontificia. In addition to MSS. it contained the papal archives and registers (Regesta). In the catalogue dated 1512 it is calledIntima et ultima secretior bibliotheca, and seems to have contained the most valued treasures. This quadripartite division is commemorated by Aurelio Brandolini (Epigramxii.)[372]. After alluding to the founders of some of the famous libraries of antiquity, he says in conclusion:

Bibliotheca fuit, fateor, sua cuique, sed vna.Sixte pater vincis: quatuor vnus habes.

Thanks to the care with which Platina set down his expenditure, we are able to follow step by step the gradual transformation of the rooms. His account-books[373], begun 30 June 1475, record, with a minuteness as rare as it is valuable, his transactions with the different artists and workmen whom he thought proper to employ. It was evidently intended that the library should be beautiful as well as useful, and some of the most celebrated artists of the day were set to work upon it.

The librarian prudently began in August, 1475, by increasing the light, and a new window was made "on the side next the court." It seems to have been impossible to get either workmen or materials in Rome; both were supplied from a distance. For the windows, glass, lead and solder were brought from Venice, and a German, called simply Hormannus, i.e. Hermann, was hired to glaze them. For the internal decoration two well-known Florentine artists—the brothers Ghirlandajo—were engaged, withMelozzo da Forli, who was painting there in 1477[374]. In 1476 the principal entrance was decorated with special care. Marble was bought for the doorcase, and the door itself was studded with 95 bronze nails, which were gilt, as were also the ring and knocker, and the frame of trellised ironwork (cancellus), which hung within the outer door.

The building is entered from theCortile del Papagallo[375]through a marble doorway (fig. 98, A) in the classical style surmounted by the arms of Sixtus IV. On the frieze are the wordssixtus papa iiii. The doorcase is doubtless that made in 1476; but the door, with its gilt nails and other adornments, has disappeared. Within the doorway there has been a descent of three steps at least to the floor of the Library[376]. The four rooms of which it was once composed are now used as theFloreriaorGarde-meubleof the Vatican Palace; a use to which they have probably been put ever since the new Library was built at the end of the sixteenth century.

The Latin Library, into which the door from the court opens directly, is a noble room, 58 ft. 9 in. long, 34 ft. 8 in. wide, and about 16 ft. high to the spring of the vault. In the centre is a square pier, which carries the four plain quadripartite vaults, probably of brick, covered with plaster. The room is at present lighted by two windows (B, C) in the north wall, and by another, of smaller size, above the door of entrance (A). That this latter window was inserted by Sixtus IV., is proved by the presence of his arms above it on a stone shield. This is probably the window "next the court" made in 1475. The windows in the north wall are about 8 ft. high by 5 ft. broad, and their sills are 7 ft. above the floor of the room. Further, there were two windows in the west wall (b,c) a little smaller than those inthe north wall, and placed at a much lower level, only a few feet above the floor. These were blocked when the Torre Borgia was built by Alexander VI. (1492-1503), but their position can still be easily made out. This room must have been admirably lighted in former days.

The room next to this, the Greek Library, is 28 ft. broad by 34 ft. 6 in. long. It is lighted by a window (fig. 98, D) in the north wall, of the same size as those of the Latin Library, and by another (ibid., E) a good deal smaller, opposite to it. This room was originally entered from the Latin Library by a door close to the north wall (d). But, in 1480[377], two large openings (e,f) were made in the partition-wall, either because the light was found to be deficient, or because it was thought best to throw the two rooms into one as far as possible. At some subsequent date the door (d) was blocked up, and the opening next to it (e) was carried down to the ground, so as to do duty as a door. The other opening (f), about 7 ft. 6 in. square, remains as constructed.

The decorative work of the brothers Ghirlandajo can still be made out, at least in part, though time has made sad havoc with it. The edges of the vaulting were made prominent by classical moldings coarsely drawn in a dark colour; and at the key of each vault is a large architectural ornament, or coat of arms, surrounded by a wreath of oak-leaves and acorns, to commemorate the Della Rovere family. They are tied together on each side with long flaunting ribbons, which, with their shadows, extend for a considerable distance over the vaults. The semi-circular lunettes in the upper part of the wall under the vaults are all treated alike, except that those on the sides of the room, being larger than those at the ends (fig. 98), contain two subjects instead of one. The lower part, for about 3 feet in height, is painted to represent a solid marble balcony, behind which a Doctor or Prophet is supposed to be standing. He is visible from rather below the waist upwards, and holds in his hand a scroll bearing an appropriate text. On each side of the figure in the smaller lunettes, resting on the balcony, is a largevase of flowers; and behind it a clear sky. Round the upper edge of the lunette is a broad band of oak-leaves, and fruits of various kinds. The figures, of which there were evidently twelve originally, are the following, beginning with the one at the north-east corner over the door leading into the Greek Library, and proceeding to the right:

1.Hieronymus.Scientiam scripturarum ama, et vitia carnis non amabis.2.Gregorius.Dei sapientiam sardonyco et zaphyro non confer.3.Thomas.Legend illegible.4.Bonaventura.Fructus scripturæ est plenitudo æternæ felicitatis.5.Aristoteles.}Legends illegible.6.Diogenes.7.Cleobulus.8.Antisthenes.9.Socrates.10.Plato.11.Augustinus.Nihil beatius est quam semper aliquid legere aut scribere.12.Ambrosius.Diligentiam circa scripturas sanctorum posui.

Jerome and Gregory occupy the east wall; Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventura the first lunette on the south wall, over the door of entrance; Aristotle and Diogenes the next, succeeded by Cleobulus and Antisthenes on the west wall; on the first lunette on the north wall are Socrates and Plato; in the second Augustine and Ambrose, facing Aquinas and Bonaventura. Thus the eastern half of the library was presided over by doctors of the Christian Church, the western by pagan philosophers.

The space on the north wall (gh), nearly opposite to the door of entrance, was occupied by the fresco on which Melozzo da Forli was working in 1477. It was intended to commemorate the establishment of the Library in a permanent home by Sixtus the Fourth. The Pope is seated on the right of the spectator. On his right stands his nephew, Cardinal Pietro Riario, and before him, his head turned towards the Pope, to whom he seems to be speaking, another nephew, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, afterwards Pope Julius the Second. At the feet of the Pope kneels Bartolommeo Platina, the newlyappointed Librarian, who is pointing with the forefinger of his right hand to the inscription below the fresco. Behind Platina are two young men with chains of office round their necks. The inscription, said to have been written by Platina himself, is as follows:

TEMPLA, DOMUM EXPOSITIS[378],VICOS, FORA, MŒNIA, PONTES,VIRGINEAMTRIVII QUOD REPARARIS AQUAM,PRISCA LICET NAUTIS STATUAS DARE MUNERA PORTÛS,ETVATICANUM CINGERE,SIXTE, JUGUM,PLUS TAMENURBS DEBET; NAM QUÆ SQUALORE LATEBATCERNITUR IN CELEBRIBIBLIOTHECA LOCO.

The fresco is now in the Vatican picture-gallery. It was transferred to canvas soon after 1815, when the present gallery was formed, and has suffered a good deal from what is called restoration[379].

The decoration of the Greek Library is not alluded to in the Accounts[380]; but it is easy to see that the lunettes have been ornamented on the same system as those of the Latin Library, but without figures; for their decoration still exists, though much damaged by time and damp. Below the lunettes the walls are covered with whitewash, under which some decoration is evidently concealed. The whitewash has peeled off in some places, and colour is beginning to make its appearance.

TheBibliotheca secretais 20 ft. wide by 38 ft. 6 in. long. It is lighted by a single window in the north wall (fig. 98, F), of the same size and shape as the rest. The light is sufficient, even under present conditions.

The fourth and last room—spoken of in 1480 as "that addition which our Master lately made"—is 29 ft. wide by 40 ft. 6 in. long. It is at present lighted by only a single window in the north wall (fig. 98, G), and is very gloomy. Butin former days, before Julius II. (1503-1513) built theCortile di San Damaso, it had another window in the middle of the east wall (ibid., H), where there is now a door. Nothing certain can be made out about its decoration.

It is much to be regretted that so little is said about the glazing of the windows throughout the Library. Great care was evidently bestowed upon them, and the engagement of foreign artists, with the purchase of glass at Venice, are proofs that something specially beautiful was intended. Coloured glass is mentioned, which may have been used either for coats of arms—and we know that the Papal Arms were to be set up in theBibliotheca secreta—or for subjects. But, in forming conjectures as to the treatment of these windows, it should be remembered that the transmission of light must always have been the first consideration, and that white glass must have preponderated.

The rooms for the Librarian and his assistants were in a small building which abutted on the Library at its S.W. corner, and stood between the two courts, obtaining light from each. Over the door of entrance was the inscription:

SIXTUS . IIII . PONT . MAX.BIBLIOTECARIO . ET . CVSTODIBVS . LOCVM . ADDIXIT[381].

The accommodation provided was not magnificent, two rooms only being mentioned. A door (fig. 98,a), now blocked, gave access to the Library from this building. It is interesting to note, as a proof of the richness of all the work, that it was of inlaid wood (pino intarsiata).

The work of fitting up this Library occupied about six years. It began in September 1475, and proceeded continuously to January 1477, when Melozzo's fresco was in progress. In December of that year the windows of theBibliotheca secretawere begun; but during 1478 and 1479 nothing was done. In 1480 work was resumed, and the last payment to painters was made in 1481.

Let us now consider how these rooms were fitted up for the reception of books. I will first collect the notices in the Accounts respecting desks, orbanchi, as they are called, andthen compare them with the rooms themselves, and with the descriptions in the catalogues, which are fortunately extremely full; and I think that it will be possible to give a clear and consistent picture of the arrangements.

Platina ordered the desks for the Latin Library first, in 1475. This is set down in the following terms:

I have counted out, in the presence of Clement, steward of the household of His Holiness our Master, Salvatus the library-keeper (librarius), and Demetrius the reader (lector), 45 ducats to Francis the carpenter of Milan, now dwelling in the fishmarket of the city of Rome, towards making the desks in the library; and especially ten desks which stand on the left hand, the length of which is 38 palms or thereabouts; and so having received a part of the money, the total of which is 130 ducats, he promises and binds himself to do that which it is his duty to do, this 15th day of July, 1475[382].

The full name of this carpenter is known, from his receipts, to have been Francesco de Gyovane di Boxi da Milano. He received in all 300 ducats instead of the 130 mentioned in the first agreement, and when the last payment was made to him, 7 June, 1476, the following explanatory note is given:

Moreover I have paid to the same [Francis the carpenter] 30 ducats for what remains due on 25 desks for the Library: for the longer ones, which are 10 in number, there were paid, as entered above, 130 ducats; for the rest there were paid 170 ducats, making a total of 300 ducats, and so he has been paid in full for all the desks, this 7th day of June, 1476[383].

In 1477 the furniture for the next room, theBibliotheca secretaor Inner Library, was begun. The work was entrusted to a Florentine, called in the Accounts merelyMagister Joanninus faber lignarius de Florentia, but identified by M. Fabrewith Giovannino dei Dolci, one of the builders of the Sistine chapel. The most important entry referring to him is the following:

Master Giovannino, carpenter of Florence, had from me Platyna, librarian of His Holiness our Master, for making the desks in the inner library, for the great press, and the settle, in the said room—all of which were estimated by Master Francis of Milan at one hundred and eighty ducats—he had, as aforesaid, sixty-five ducats and sixty groats on the 7th May, 1477[384].

The last payment on this account was made 18 March, 1478, on which day he also received eight ducats for three frames "to contain the names of the books," and for some repairs to old desks[385]. These frames were painted by one of Melozzo da Forli's workmen[386]. In February, 1481, 12 book-chests were supplied[387].

The desks for the fourth room orBibliotheca pontificiawere ordered in 1480-81. The workmen employed were Giovannino and his brother Marco.

Master Giovannino of Florence and Master Marco his brother, a carpenter, receivedxxvducats in part payment for the desks which are being made in the library now added by His Holiness our Master, 18 July, 1480[388].

These workmen received 100 ducats up to 7 April, 1481, but the account was not then settled. Up to this period the bookcases had cost the large sum of 580 ducats or, if the valueof the ducat be taken at six shillings and sixpence, £188 10s.of our money.

The purchase of chains began in January 1476[389]. It is worth notice that so simple an article as a chain for a book could not be bought in Rome, but had to be sent for from Milan; where, by the way, the dues exacted by the government made the purchase irksome and costly. The total number of chains bought was 1728, and the total cost 102 ducats, or rather more than £33. The rings were found to be too small, and were altered in Rome. Nothing is said about the place from which the rods came (ferramenta quibus catenæ innituntur).

In 1477 (14 April) "John the chain-maker (Joannes fabricator catenarum)" supplies "48 iron rods on which the books are strung on the seats[390]" and also 48 locks, evidently connected with the same number of rods supplied before. In the same year a key-maker (magister clavium) supplies 22 locks for the seats and cupboards in theBibliotheca secreta[391]; and in 1480, when theBibliotheca pontficiawas being fitted up, keys, locks, chains, and other ironwork were supplied by Bernardino, nephew of John of Milan[392].

For further information we must turn to the catalogues. For my present purpose the first of these[393]is that by Platina, of which I have already spoken, dated 14 September, 1481. It is a small folio volume, written on vellum, with gilt edges, and in plain binding that may be original. The first page has a lovely border of an enlaced pattern with the arms of Sixtus IV. in a circle at the bottom.

The compiler of the catalogue goes through the library case by case, noting (at least in the Latin Library) the position of the case, the subjects of the books contained in it, and their titles. This is succeeded by an enumeration of the number of volumes, so as to shew, in a couple of pages, how many thewhole Library contained. MM. Müntz and Fabre print this enumeration, but, so far as I know, the catalogue itself has not as yet been printed by any one. For my present purpose I shall combine the headings of the catalogue, the subjects, and the number of the volumes, as follows:

Inventarium Bibliothecæ Palatinæ Divi Sexti Quarti Pont. Max.

[I.Latin Library.]Ad sinistram ingredientibusIn primo banco. [Bibles and Commentaries]51In secundo banco.Hieronymus. Augustinus55In tertio banco.Augustinus. Ambrosius. Gregorius47In quarto banco.Ioannes Chrysostomus50In quinto banco.Thomas47In sexto banco.In Theologia. In divino officio54In septimo banco.Ius canonicum43In octauo banco.Ius canonicum41In nono banco.Ius civile42——430In primo banco ad dextram ingredientibus.Philosophi53In secundo banco.Astrologi. In Medicina48In tertio banco.Poetæ41In quarto banco.Oratores43In quinto banco.Historici33In sexto banco.Historici ecclesiastici48In septimo banco.Grammatici47——313[II.Greek Library.]In primo banco Bibliothecæ Grecæ.Testamentum vetus et novum42In secundo banco.Auctores clariores [Fathers]31In tertio banco.Auctores clariores46In quarto banco.Auctores clariores49In quinto banco.Ius civile et canonicum58In sexto banco.In Philosophia59In septimo banco.Oratores et Rhetores57In octauo banco.Historici. Poetæ et Grammatici58——400[III.Inner Library.][A.Banchi.]In primo banco Bibliothecæ Secretæ. [Bibles, Fathers, etc.]29In secundo banco.In Theologia37In tertio banco.In Philosophia41In quarto banco.Ius canonicum20In quinto banco.Concilia34In sexto banco.In Astrologia. In Hebraico. In Dalmatico. In Arabico29——190[B.Armarium.]In primo armario Bibliothecæ Secretæ.Libri sacri et in divino officio173In secundo armario.Ius canonicum. Ius civile148In tertio armario.Expositiones. In sententiis. Poetæ Grammatici et Historici Greci242In quarto armario.In medicina. Mathematici et Astrologi. Ius canonicum et civile. Oratores et Rhetores. Platonis Opera. In Philosophia186In quinto armario.Auctores clariores89——938[C.Capsæ.]In prima capsa primi banchi Bibliothecæ Secretæ.In Theologia107In secunda capsa primi banchi.Diversa facultas[Miscellanea]66In prima capsa secundi banchi. [Privileges and Royal Letters in3volumes]3In secunda capsa secundi banchi. [Miscellanea]124In prima capsa tertii banchi.Philosophi90In secunda capsa tertii banchi[00]In prima capsa quarti banchi.Historici65In secunda capsa quarti banchi[00]In prima capsa quinti banchi. [Official forms]43In secunda capsa quinti banchi.In Arabico23In prima capsa sexti banchi.In Historia ecclesiastica. Ceremonialia67In secunda capsa sexti banchi.Libri sine nomine ad quinquaginta parvi et modici quidem valoris50——638[D.Spalera.]In prima capsa spaleræ Bibliothecæ Secretæ.In Poesi. Oratores Rhetores69In secunda capsa.In divino officio et sermones59In tertia capsa.Concilia et Canon. De potestate ecclesiastica54In quarta et ultima capsa.In Medicina. In Astrologia34——216[IV.Bibliotheca Pontificia.][A.Banchi.]In primo banco Bibliothecæ Pontificiæ.Testamentum vetus et novum19In secundo banco.Expositores22In tertio banco.Augustinus14In quarto banco.Hieronymus23In quinto banco.In Theologia22In sexto banco.In Theologia18In septimo banco.Thomas23In octavo banco.In Philosophia29In nono banco. [Greek and Latin Classics]25In decimo banco.Ius canonicum28In undecimo banco. [Civil Law]17In duodecimo banco. [New Testament. Fathers]19——259[B.Spalera.]Regestra Pontificum hic descripta in capsis Spaleræ Bibliothecæ Pontificiæ per Platinam Bibliothecarium ex ordine recondita et in capsa prima21In secunda capsa Spaleræ Bibliothecæ Pontificiæ47In tertia capsa Bibliothecæ Pont. Regestra recondita par Platynam Bibliothecarium16In quarta capsa Spaleræ Bibliothecæ Pontificiæ Regestra recondita16In quinta capsa Spaleræ Bibliothecæ Pontificiæ Regestra recondita15These lists give the following results:LatinLibrary,lefthand,9seats430""right"7"313——743GreekLibrary8"400Inner"6"190Armaria938Capsæ638Spalera216——1982Bibliotheca Pontificia12seats2595 Capsæ (Regestra)115——374——Total3499

Before proceeding farther, it should be noticed that, on a rough average, each seat in the Latin Library, left hand, contained 47 volumes, and in the same Library, right hand, 43 volumes. In the Greek Library, each seat contained 50 volumes; in the Inner Library, 31 volumes; in theBibliotheca pontificia, 21 volumes.

In the next place I will give the results of the examination of a catalogue[394]of the Library, which M. Fabre, with much probability, assigns to the year 1512[395]. It begins as follows with the Latin Library:

Ad sinistra' Pontificis bibliothecam introeuntibusInprimoscannosupra[27]""infra[27]Finis primi scanni sub et supra[54]

The nine seats (banchi) of the left side of the Latin Library are gone through in the same way as the first, with the result that each is shewn to have two shelves. The total number of books is 457, or 27 more than in 1481.

On the opposite, or right-hand side of the Library, the first two seats have three shelves, and are described as follows:

Inprimoscannosupra[22]""infra[27]"eodem scanno inferius siue sub infra[26]Finis primi scanni sub et subter[75]

On this side of the Latin Library the number of books has risen to 360 as against 313 of the previous catalogue.

In the Greek Library there are similarly two shelves to each seat, and the total number of volumes is 407 as against 400.

The account of the Inner Library begins as follows:

In secretiori bibliothecaIn iijo.scannosupra.[16]""infra[17]""inferius siue sub infra[21]

Three of the seats have three shelves; the rest two; and the total number of volumes has become 222 as against 190: or, an average of 37 to each seat.

TheBibliotheca pontificiais introduced with the following heading:

In intima et ultima secretiori bibliotheca ubi libri sunt pretiosiores.

Each seat has two shelves, and the total number of volumes is 277 as against 259 in 1481. Among the MSS. occurs "Virgilius antiquus litteris maiusculis"—no doubt the Vatican Virgil (Codex romanus), a volume which fully justifies its place among those termedlibri pretiosiores.

This catalogue closes with the following sentence:

Finis totius Bibliothece Pontificie: viz. omnium scamnorum tam Latinorum quam Grecorum in prima, secunda, tertia, et quarta eius distinctione et omnium omnino librorum: exceptis armariis et capsis: et iis libris, qui Græci ex maxima parte, in scabellis parieti adherentibus in intima ac penitissima Bibliothece parte sunt positi. Deo Laudes et Gratias.

The increase between 1481 and 1512 in the number of volumes in the parts of the Library defined in the above catalogue will be best understood from the following table, which shews that 131 volumes had been added in 31 years.

14811512Latin Library743817Greek "400407Bibliotheca secreta190222" pontificia259277————Total15921723

Another catalogue, unfortunately without date[396], but which has every appearance of belonging to the same period, notes the rooms as theBibliotheca magna publica, i.e. the Latin and Greek Libraries taken together, theBibliotheca parva secreta, and theBibliotheca magna secreta.

The catalogue drawn up by Zenobio Acciaioli, 12 October, 1518[397], offers no peculiarity except that in the Inner Library each seat is noted as having three rows of books, thus:

In primo bancho bibliothece parve secreteInfra insecundoordine"tertio"

Fig 99. Interior of the Library of Sixtus IV., as shewn in a fresco in the Ospedale di Santo Spirito, Rome. From a photograph taken by Danesi.Fig 99. Interior of the Library of Sixtus IV., as shewn in a fresco in the Ospedale di Santo Spirito, Rome. From a photograph taken by Danesi.

We may now proceed to arrange the Library in accordance with the information derived from the Accounts and the catalogues, compared with the ground-plan (fig. 98).

These authorities shew that in each of the rooms the books were arranged on what are calledbanchi, or as they would have been termed in England, desks, or seats, to which the books were attached by chains. It is obvious, therefore, that there must have been also seats for readers. A piece of furniture fulfilling these conditions and constructed twenty-five years earlier, is still to be seen at Cesena, as I have just explained. Further, I have examined a good many manuscripts now in the Vatican Library which formed part of the older collection; and wherever the mark of the chain has not been obliterated by rebinding, it is in the precise position required for the above system.

If I am right in supposing that the cases at Cesena are a survival of what was once in general use, we should expect to find another example of them in the Vatican; and that such was the case, is proved by the evidence of a fresco in the Ospedale di Santo Spirito at Rome, representing the interior of the library. This hospital was rebuilt by Sixtus IV. on an enlarged scale[398], and after its completion in 1482, one of the halls on the ground floor was decorated with a series of frescoes representing the improvements which he had carried out in the city of Rome. Recent researches[399]make it probable that the earlier pictures in the series of which the library is one, were selected by Platina, and executed before his death in 1481. I am able to present to my readers a reduced copy of this invaluable record (fig. 99) executed for me by Signor Danesi, under the kind superintendence of Father Ehrle.

The artistic merit of such a work as this is not great, but I feel sure that the artist faithfully reproduced what he saw with the limitations prescribed by his own want of skill. The desks bear a general resemblance to those at Cesena; they are plainer than the Accounts would warrant, but this may be dueto want of skill on the part of the artist. The chains have also been omitted either for the same reason or from a wish to avoid detail. It will be noticed that each desk is fully furnished with volumes laid out upon it, and that these vary in number and size, and have different bindings. It may be argued that the artist wished to compliment his patrons by making the most of their property; but I should be inclined to maintain that this was the normal condition of the Library, and that the books, handsomely bound and protected by numerous bosses of metal, usually lay upon the desks ready for use.

If this fresco be compared with the earlier work of Melozzo da Forli, it is not difficult to identify four of the persons present in the Library (other than the readers). The central figure is obviously Sixtus IV., and the Cardinal to whom he is speaking is, I think, meant for Giuliano della Rovere, afterwards Julius II. The figure immediately behind the Pope may be intended for Pietro Riario, and the figure behind him is certainly Platina. The others, I take it, are simply attendants.

Nor must it be forgotten that, important as this fresco is in connexion with the Library of the Vatican, it is of even greater interest as a contemporary representation of a large fifteenth century library.

The arrangement of each room is not quite so simple as might appear at first sight; and, besides the desks, there are other pieces of furniture to be accounted for. We will therefore go through the rooms in order with the ground-plan (fig. 98). On this plan the cases are coloured gray, the readers' seats are indicated by transverse lines, and the intervals are left white.

Latin Library.The Accounts tell us that there were 10 seats on the left hand of the Latin Library, and that these were longer than the rest, measuring 38 palms each, or about 27 ft. 9 in. English[400].

As the distance from the central pier to the west wall is just 27 ft. 6 in., it is obvious that the cases must have stood north and south—an arrangement which is also convenient for readers, as the light would fall on them from the left hand. For this reason I have placed the first desk against the pier,the reader's seat being westward of it. A difficulty now arises. It is stated in the Accounts thatten banchiare paid for, but all the catalogues mention onlynine. I suggest that the explanation is to be found in the fact that ten pieces of furniture do occur between the pier and the wall, the first of which is a shelf and desk, and the last a seat only. This arrangement is to be seen at Cesena and in the Medicean Library at Florence. The room being 34 ft. 8 in. wide, space is left for a passage along the south wall to the door (a) of the Librarian's room, and also for another along the opposite ends of the desks.

For the arrangement of the rest of the Library, the Accounts give a most important piece of information. They tell us that the whole of the seats for the Common Library, i.e. the Latin and Greek Libraries taken together, 25 in number, cost 300 ducats, of which sum the 10 long seats above mentioned absorbed 130 ducats, leaving 170 to pay for the remaining 15. From these data it is not difficult to calculate the cost of each palm, and from that the number of palms that 170 ducats would buy. I make this to be 510 palms, or about 373 feet[401].

It is, I think, obvious that there must have been some sort of vestibule just inside the door of entrance, where students could be received, and where they could consult the catalogue or the Librarian. Further, the catalogues shew that the seven desks arranged in this part of the Library were in all probability shorter than those of the opposite side, for they contained fewer volumes. If we allow each of them 21 ft. 4 in. in length, we shall dispose of 149 ft., which leaves 224 ft. for the 8 desks of the Greek Library, or 28 ft. for each, with one foot over.

Greek Library.In this room there were eight seats, and, as explained above, each was about 28 ft. long. The room being 28 ft. wide, this number, with a width of 3 ft. for each, is very convenient, and leaves a passage 4 ft. wide along the west wall. The length, moreover, does not interfere with thepassage from door to door, and leaves a short interval between the ends of the desks and the opposite wall.

Inner Library.In this room space has to be provided for (1) six seats, each holding on an average about 30 volumes; (2) a press (armarium) with five divisions, and holding 938 volumes; (3) a settle (spalera); (4) 12 chests or coffers (capsæ).

I have placed thearmariumat the end of the room, opposite the window. In this position it can be allowed to be 20 ft. in width with 5 divisions, each, we will suppose, about 4 ft. wide. Let us suppose further that it was 7 ft. high, and had 6 shelves. If we allow 8 volumes to each foot, each shelf would hold 32 volumes, and each division six times that number, or 192. This estimate for each division will give a total of 960 volumes for the five divisions, a number slightly in excess of that mentioned in Platina's catalogue.

After allowing a space 5 ft. wide in front of the press, there is plenty of room left for 6 desks, each 21 ft. long. I have placed thespalliera, with its four coffers (capsæ) under the seat, below the window. This piece of furniture, in modern Italianspalliera, Frenchepaulière, is common in large houses at the present day. It usually stands in an ante-room or on a landing of one of the long staircases. A portion at least of thespalliereused in this Library are still in existence. They stood in the vestibule of the present Vatican Library until a short time ago, when the present Pope had them removed to the Appartamento Borgia, where they stand against the wall round one of the rooms. There are two distinct designs of different heights and ornamentation. The photograph here reproduced (fig. 100) was taken specially for my use. Thespallierehave evidently been a good deal altered in the process of fitting up, and moreover, as it is impossible to discover whether we have the whole or only a part of what once existed, it is useless to make any suggestion, from the length of the portions that remain, as to which room they may once have fitted. They are excellent specimens of inlaid work. That on the right, with the row of crosses along the cornice, is 6 ft. 2 in. high, and 66 ft. long. That on the left is 5 ft. 10 in. high, and 24 ft. 7 in. long. The capsæ project from the wall 1 ft. 4 in., and are 2 ft. high. Their lids vary a little in length, from 3 ft. 11 in. to 4 ft. 10 in.

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