The exhibition gallery of the National Central Library of Rome permanently displays works commissioned following a competition held in 1970 pursuant to Law 717/1949, later amended by 237/1960, known as the “2% law,” which stipulated that when a public building was constructed, no less than 2% of the total anticipated expenditure had to be allocated for its “enhancement” with works of art.
The call required seven sculptures in travertine or peperino and four in metal for the gardens; for the interiors, a large metal sculpture, three tapestries, and two frescoes. These works were created by prominent artists of the time: for the sculptures Osvaldo Calò, Saverio D’Eugenio, Oreste Dequel, Silvio Olivio, Ariosto Trinchera, Luigi Venturini, Raul Vistoli, Franco Cannilla, Carlo Carchietti, Pietro Consagra, Augusto Vanarelli, Aldo Caron; for the tapestries Afro and Capogrossi; for the frescoes Anna Romano, who also created the large wooden ceiling for the conference hall.
Therefore, the current library building not only represents a significant, though so far underappreciated, synthesis of some of the architectural debate trends of the postwar period but also houses a “snapshot” of the most representative artistic currents of the 1960s-1970s of the last century.
