Rózsa György: The Palace of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

III. The ground floor

III. THE GROUND FLOOR Through the main gate we enter a vestibule divided into three aisles by four pairs of columns on each side and separated from the corridor which connects the longitudinal wings seven steps higher, by three arched openings. On the walls of the vestibule marble pilasters correspond to the columns. Their base, similarly to the lower part of the rails that divide the corridor, is of imitation marble. The archivolts and the cross-ribs are decorated with stucco reliefs of braided-pattern. Besides the masters already mentioned, the flooring and the artificial marmoration is the work of Odorico Odorico of Vienna and the Rojcsek brothers of Pest. The vestibule was the scene of ceremonial funerals on several occasions. Among others, laid out in state here, were Ferenc Deák, the statesman (1876), János Arany, the poet and secretary general of the Academy (1882), Pál Gyulai, the historian of literature (1909), Kálmán Mikszáth, the great novelist (1910), and Zoltán Kodály, the composer (1967). From the vestibule a cross corridor divided by a white marble baluster railing leads to the premises of the Library of the Academy, one of the oldest and greatest public libraries of the country, founded by József Teleki in 1826. Its present objective is twofold: on the one hand, by means of its holding and international connections it assists scientific research, on the other, it acts as a central library for the network of the libraries of the Academy's institutes. Its periodicals collection in the arts field is the most important in Hungary. Turning to the left from the corridor, we enter a small antechamber where the statues of József Teleki and Ferenc Toldy, the secretary general and the first chief librarian, stand. The former is the work of István Ferenczy (1792-1856), and the latter of Alajos Stróbl (1856—1926). The catalogue room is decorated with the portraits of Pál Hunfalvy (by Róbert Wellmann, 1866—1946), Ferenc Toldy (a copy), Kálmán Szily (by Géza Biczó, 1853—1907), Ágost Heller (by Andor 15