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There was originally supposed to be a double staircase leading up to the reading room, but in 1558 in Rome, the aged artist altered the plans, which were carried out by Bartolomeo Ammanati in the following years. Enormous volutes, used purely as ornamentation, and double columns erected in the recesses, are both elements far removed from the classical stance of the Renaissance. This staircase, with its interplay of oval forms, is one of the most refined examples of Michelangelo's work in the field of architecture.
We are told that the design of the staircase came to Michelangelo in a dream; the bowed central steps seem to flow downwards in forceful contrasts to the fights of straight steps that flank them.
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