All photographs © Lynn Catterson.

Fig. 1, Chapel at Villa Marignolle, 2018.

Fig. 2, Dimensions of the aperture of the doorway of the chapel at Villa Marignolle.

Fig. 3, The dimensions of the door as measured from the inside are as follows: left-hand door, 114.25 x 34 in. (2.9 x 0.8636 m.); right-hand door, 114.25 x 33 in. (2.9 x 0.8382 m.).

Fig. 4, View of interior side of Morgan doors, Morgan Library, New York.

A visit by the author to Stefano Bardini’s Villa Marignolle on May 30, 2018, confirmed that the bronze doors of the Morgan Library came from the chapel on the grounds of the villa (fig. 1). Bardini bought the villa in 1891; by 1902 he was cannibalizing Marignolle in order to decorate another villa closer to Florence that he had purchased. However, he held onto the Marignolle property, which still retains the chapel that was likely built by Bardini. The present iron grille doors and tympanum were probably installed by Bardini’s son, Ugo, in the 1930s. Measurements of the aperture of the chapel doorway coincide neatly with the dimensions of the Morgan door (taken from the inside) provided by Christine Nelson of the Morgan Library, thus reaffirming the archival evidence (figs. 2–4). Significantly, when still in the chapel, the doors were not hung on hinges but rather were attached to pegs inserted at each of the four corners into the door frame (fig. 5). Today, the Morgan doors still use four pegs as the means of attachment to the frame (fig. 6).

Fig. 5, View from inside the chapel at Villa Marignolle. Doors are mounted with pegs at the four corners rather than being hung on side hinges.

Fig. 6, Detail, inside bottom left corner of Morgan doors showing custom-fit bronze cap to cover peg on door, Morgan Library, New York.