Ekaterina Izmailkina
The State Hermitage Museum, Russia
Buildings specially intended for holding libraries start to appear in Asia Minor during the Hellenistic and Roman times. Depending on the period, the buildings differ in forms. Hellenistic libraries resemble Greek constructions with clear order structure and the usage of pediments, while those of Roman times demonstrate a combination of influences — the one inspired by the city of Rome and the other one originating from Oriental tradition.
Hellenistic libraries were usually both museums and scholarly institutions. This is the reason why it is difficult to consider separate buildings of the Hellenistic period to be just libraries. Of much greater interest is the possibility to consider groups of various buildings as holistic ensembles associated by their purpose. Libraries as separate buildings characterized by certain constructive and decorative features do not seem to appear in Asia Minor before Roman times.
During the Republican period, libraries used to be only in private possession. The most renowned example is the Villa Papyri at Herculaneum with about two thousand scrolls of manuscripts. The first public library was built in the early Imperial period. Gradually many public libraries appeared in Rome and across the Empire. They existed at various temples (like the Pantheon or the Temple of Apollo Palatinus), at thermae (Baths of Trajan and Baths of Caracalla) or at forums. Several cities possessed their own libraries. The largest among private libraries were those belonging to emperors housed in their palaces and villas (Nero’s Domus Aurea, Domus Flavia in Rome, and Hadrian’s Villa at
Tivoli).
The author of the report is going to discuss the Library of Celsus at Ephesus. This building is a fascinating example of this type of ancient constructions that give an idea of the specificity in the development of architectural order in the Roman Asia Minor.
It is worth mentioning that architects of the Renaissance turned to the tradition of Classical Antiquity not only by rejecting Gothic forms and reviving the order system, but also by returning to Classical proportional harmony. An example of the Renaissance architecture recalling models of Classical Antiquity is the building of Biblioteca Marciana in Venice.