McGraw Rotunda—a spectacular interior of the New York Public Library—is known for its stunning murals. Despite its name, the Rotunda is not circular but rectangular, crowned by a barrel-vaulted ceiling. The murals, painted by Edward Laning in the late 1930s, were commissioned by the Library as a part of the effort to enrich public spaces with monumental art. Not only the result is majestic, but also the murals provide a visual tribute to the Library’s main mission as the keeper of human knowledge.
A gateway to the historic reading rooms, the Library murals narrate the story of the Written Word.
The Story of the Recorded Word Library Murals
Prometheus Bringing Fire to Men
The ceiling mural serves as a prelude to The Story of the Recorded Word.
At its center is Prometheus, depicted in a moment of delivering fire—stolen from the gods—to humanity. This gift cannot be underestimated: it empowered humans to make tools, advance technology, and build civilization. Prometheus has disobeyed Zeus and will be punished for the act of defiance. As the clouds gather, predicting Zeus’ wrath, Prometheus rushes to deliver the fire. Blinded by its light, he covers his eyes. Most people below recoil in fear of the divine punishment. Yet, there are few who, despite the fear, welcome the frightening but invaluable gift of knowledge. This ceiling scene marks the beginning of the story of human knowledge made possible through the power of the Recorded Word.
The four arched murals on the walls represent four stages in the development of the recorded word: “Moses with the Tablets of the Law” and “The Medieval Scribe” on the west wall; “Guttenberg Showing a Proof to the Elector of Mainz” and “The Linotype-Mergenthaler and Whitelaw Reid” – on the east wall.
Moses with the Tablets of the Law
The first mural depicts Moses descending from Mount Sinai carrying the tablets of the Ten Commandments. He has just seen God and now brings His word to the people—not as an oral account open to interpretation, but as written law, fixed and authoritative.
We see a burning bush at the mountaintop, likely a nod to another biblical moment. Moses’ beard is swept back by his movement, and his eyes are wide with fury. During his absence, the Israelites had turned to idolatry, worshiping the Golden Calf—shown on the right side of the mural. On the left lies a shattered tablet, the one Moses hurled in anger upon witnessing their betrayal. At the bottom of the scene, the people cower in fear and remorse, fully aware of the gravity of their transgression.
The recorded word here is written by God, unique, singular, and divine.
The Medieval Scribe
The next mural transports us to medieval Europe, where the act of writing is a sacred, painstaking task. A monk, dressed in a white habit and marked by a tonsured scalp—a sign of religious devotion and humility—sits at his desk, carefully copying a manuscript by hand onto parchment. Around him are signs of long, tireless labor: a cluster of used quill pens, a sand timer marking the passage of hours, and several completed volumes at his feet. One open, richly decorated book is an illuminated manuscript that reflects the reverence for written knowledge. To the right, chaos unfolds—a house burns and a knight slaughters unarmed victims with his sword. Yet the scribe remains unmoved. He is untouched by the violence, absorbed in his task. Lives may be lost, but the written word endures.
The act of writing is no longer divine; it’s entrusted to selected humans.
Gutenberg Showing a Proof to the Elector of Mainz
Johann Gutenberg is regarded as one of the most influential figures in human history. His invention—the printing press—sparked an information revolution, making literature accessible unprecedentedly across Europe. His landmark achievement was the Gutenberg Bible, the first major book printed using movable type. Completed in 1455, it became known for its aesthetic and technical quality. Each page contained 42 lines of text, earning it the name the 42-line Bible.
In this mural, Gutenberg presents the proof of his Bible to the Elector of Mainz, a key religious and political figure. Gutenberg, bearded and dignified, proudly offers the freshly printed page. His invention drastically reduced the cost and time required to produce a Bible—it used to take a scribe over a year to make one copy. Some printed copies were later hand-illuminated as elegantly as manuscript Bibles from the same period. Of the 48 copies of the Gutenberg Bible known to survive, the New York Public Library proudly holds one.
In the background of the mural, we catch a glimpse of the dawn of the Age of Discovery: bargaining merchants from faraway lands and sailing ships suggest the era of exploration and expanding horizons.
The act of writing becomes the art of printing, making the Written Word – literature – accessible to all.
The Linotype-Mergenthaler and Whitelaw Reid
The final mural celebrates America’s contribution to the evolution of the written word: the linotype machine—a groundbreaking invention that revolutionized printing and ushered in the modern age of mass communication.
The scene centers on Ottmar Mergenthaler seated at the keyboard of his linotype machine, which casts its own type as the operator presses the keys. Next to him is Whitelaw Reid, editor of the New York Tribune, studying a freshly printed page. Reid had championed Mergenthaler’s work, recognizing its potential to reshape the speed and scale of news production. In the background, we see the majestic Brooklyn Bridge and a newsboy hawking papers – delivering the Written Word to the people.
The Written Word can now be mass-produced, signifying the modern age of information-sharing and communication.
Together, the murals in the McGraw Rotunda narrate the story of human knowledge through the evolution of the written word from the fire stolen from the gods to a newspaper.
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