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Silence and concentration: that is usually what you notice first when you enter a study room of a library. No wonder, since research and reading are easier in quiet surroundings. For the entrance of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the national library, artist Hans van Bentem has reduced the concentration of the reading room to its core. He has created a one-person study cell.

Although you can immediately see from the brightly colored ceramics and design that this is a modern work of art, the source of inspiration is centuries old. Van Bentem normally likes to use cartoon figures and contemporary imagery in his free work. For this commission he falls back on a famous painting by the Italian painter Antonello di Messina (1474-1475). It shows the study room of Saint Jerome (National Gallery collection, London). This monk is pretty much the godfather of scientists and researchers. He is also considered the father of the Church in the^4th and^5th centuries and translated the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin, allowing many more people to read the book.

In Di Messina's painting, you see the monk in his study room. All around are bookcases with vistas to the landscape outside. In the middle of the room there is a monumental chair on an elevation with opposite it a piece of furniture on which Hieronymus could place his study books in order to read and write. Van Bentem translated this scene into the three-dimensional installation at the Royal Library. Just as Hieronymus paid attention to books and writings, Van Bentem pays attention to centuries-old crafts. Lacquerware (Vietnam), glass (Czech Republic) and, last but not least, ceramics, he produces each time with local producers. For his monumental ceramics this is Struktuur 68 from The Hague. Thus, every passer-by can take the place of Hieronymus in front of the Royal Library.