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Wren Library
The Wren Library is the library of Trinity College in Cambridge. It was designed by Christopher Wren in 1676 and completed in 1695.
The library is a single large room built over an open colonnade on the ground floor of Nevile's Court. The floor of the library proper within the upper storey lies several feet below the external division between the two storeys, reconciling the demands of use with the harmony of architectural proportion. It is credited as being one of the first libraries to be built with large windows to give comfortable light levels to aid readers.
The book stacks are arranged in rows perpendicular to the walls under the intervals between the windows. At the end of each stack is a fine limewood carving by Grinling Gibbons, and above these are plaster cast busts of notable writers through the ages. Other marble busts standing on plinths depict notable members of the college and are mostly carved by Louis-François Roubiliac. A later addition is a full size statue of Lord Byron carved by Bertel Thorvaldsen, originally offered to Westminster Abbey for inclusion in Poets' Corner, but refused due to the poet's reputation for immorality.
Giovanni Battista Cipriani was commissioned to design the stained-glass window at the south end, and William Peckitt completed it in 1775. The 5.03 m (16.5 ft) × 2.44 m (8 ft 0 in) window shows Fame or the muse of the college in yellow robes presenting Isaac Newton to King George III, seated by an allegory of Britannia, while Francis Bacon records the proceedings, and two cherubim and a bare-breasted woman with a trumpet herald the occasion. Considered a distraction to the scholars, thick curtains covered the window in the 19th century.
On the east balustrade of the library's roof are four statues by Gabriel Cibber representing Divinity, Law, Physic (medicine), and Mathematics.
As part of the complex of buildings surrounding Nevile's Court, Great Court and New Court, the library is a Grade I listed building.
The other library designed by Wren is Lincoln Cathedral Library.
The library contains many notable rare books and manuscripts, many bequeathed by past members of the college.
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Wren Library
The Wren Library is the library of Trinity College in Cambridge. It was designed by Christopher Wren in 1676 and completed in 1695.
The library is a single large room built over an open colonnade on the ground floor of Nevile's Court. The floor of the library proper within the upper storey lies several feet below the external division between the two storeys, reconciling the demands of use with the harmony of architectural proportion. It is credited as being one of the first libraries to be built with large windows to give comfortable light levels to aid readers.
The book stacks are arranged in rows perpendicular to the walls under the intervals between the windows. At the end of each stack is a fine limewood carving by Grinling Gibbons, and above these are plaster cast busts of notable writers through the ages. Other marble busts standing on plinths depict notable members of the college and are mostly carved by Louis-François Roubiliac. A later addition is a full size statue of Lord Byron carved by Bertel Thorvaldsen, originally offered to Westminster Abbey for inclusion in Poets' Corner, but refused due to the poet's reputation for immorality.
Giovanni Battista Cipriani was commissioned to design the stained-glass window at the south end, and William Peckitt completed it in 1775. The 5.03 m (16.5 ft) × 2.44 m (8 ft 0 in) window shows Fame or the muse of the college in yellow robes presenting Isaac Newton to King George III, seated by an allegory of Britannia, while Francis Bacon records the proceedings, and two cherubim and a bare-breasted woman with a trumpet herald the occasion. Considered a distraction to the scholars, thick curtains covered the window in the 19th century.
On the east balustrade of the library's roof are four statues by Gabriel Cibber representing Divinity, Law, Physic (medicine), and Mathematics.
As part of the complex of buildings surrounding Nevile's Court, Great Court and New Court, the library is a Grade I listed building.
The other library designed by Wren is Lincoln Cathedral Library.
The library contains many notable rare books and manuscripts, many bequeathed by past members of the college.
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