Michelangelo’s staircase

in the Laurentian Medicean Library- Florence, Italy

Michelangelo’s staircase in the Laurentian Medicean Library, Florence (Italy)
The problem of the difference in height between the vestibule and the reading room required the creation of a staircase.
The famous tripartite staircase designed by Buonarroti to be made of wood and then executed by Bartolomeo Ammannati in pietra serena.
For the first time we can recognize an anticipation of the Baroque style that would soon invade Europe. If in fact the straight lines of the lateral parts are fully Renaissance, the monumental central steps, elliptical in shape like an imaginary stone flow, are an original invention by Michelangelo; this particular curved line was also used in the Medici sepulchres of the New Sacristy and in the arches of the Santa Trinita bridge. In fact, the staircase consists of a central part where the curve dominates and two other lateral entrances with square steps. The spectator in front of the entrance experiences the thrill of witnessing a real waterfall of living matter held back by the presence of two rigid balustrades ….…Wikipedia…>>