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Sfera con Sfera

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Arnaldo Pomodoro (1926-)
Sfera con Sfera
1982/83 Standing proudly on the podium of the iconic brutalist Library is Sfera con sfera ('Sphere within sphere'). Properly part of Trinity College Dublin's Art Collections rather than a Library treasure, this sculpture by renowned Italian artist Arnaldo Pomodoro is, however, intrinsically linked to the Library. The 'Pomodoro sphere', as it is known locally, acts as a meeting point, photo backdrop and point of interest for thousands of students, staff and tourists as they move through Trinity's beautiful campus.
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The sphere exemplifies the long association the Library has enjoyed with the College Art Collections. Before the opening of the purpose-built Douglas Hyde Gallery in 1978, the space underneath the podium where the sphere now stands served for a decade as an art gallery. Today both the historic and contemporary library buildings feature paintings and sculptures drawn from the Art Collections' eclectic catalogue. Installed in the mid-1980s, the sculpture looks custom-designed for the space it inhabits; it perfectly complements the concrete angles and glass curves of its backdrop.

Variants can be seen across the globe – for instance, at the United Nations plaza in New York and the Cortile del Belvedere at the Vatican Museums in Rome.

Sfera con sfera © the Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro and the Art Collection of Trinity College Dublin; photo by Rebecca O'Neill

Greg Sheaf

Greg Sheaf has been an Assistant Librarian in the Library since 2005. He currently acts as the Library’s Web Services Librarian and has oversight of its social media, as well as looking after the Schools of Physics and Chemistry as a Subject Librarian. He has a keen interest in online exhibitions and making the Library’s collections more accessible to the public.

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