The Apse in Color

This watercolor rendering complements the more technical elevation of the proposed design for the Rotunda seen nearby. The color scheme for the semicircular dome of the apse would ultimately be simplified to a solid white with blue and gold accents. Like many elements of the Library, it was adapted from a sixteenth-century Roman source, in this instance the garden loggia of the Villa Madama.

The artist H. Siddons Mowbray was engaged to create the reliefs, which depict Roman mythological figures and allegorical representations of nature. Mowbray completed the modeling on-site, climbing up and down the scaffolding many times to ensure that his creations would be effectively illuminated by the Rotunda’s skylight.