As they developed this design for the dome of the Rotunda, McKim, Mead & White turned to the ceiling frescoes Raphael had created for the Vatican’s Stanza della Segnatura in the early sixteenth century. It was an appropriate (if grandiose) choice: Pope Julius II had used the room as a library and private office.
For McKim, Mead & White (artist unknown)
Preliminary design for the dome of the Rotunda of J. Pierpont Morgan’s Library, ca. 1904
Watercolor
The Morgan Library & Museum; 1979.33:4