Fig. 102. Copy, slightly reduced, of a sketch by Michelangelo for one of the bookcases in the Medicean Library, Florence.
These desks are on the same general plan as those at Cesena, but they are rather higher and more richly ornamented. Each is 11 ft. 3 in. long, and 4 ft. 4 in. high. It must be admitted that the straight back to the reader's seat is not so comfortable as the gentle slope provided in the older example. A frame for the catalogue hangs on the end of each desk next the central alley. In order to make clear the differences in the construction of the desks at Cesena and at Florence I append an elevation of each (figs. [103], [104]).
Fig. 103. Elevation of desks at Cesena.
Fig. 104. Elevation of desks at Florence.