The resplendence of the Boston Public Library’s McKim Building unfolds with each step up the grand staircase.
Past the imposing stone lions, the golden-hued stairwell gives way to an airy gallery of murals, a millennium-spanning celebration of the muses. Nearby, a narrower stairway leads to the hushed third floor, where people wander the opulent gallery to untangle John Singer Sargent’s “Triumph of Religion,” a monumental cycle of murals the artist left unfinished despite nearly three decades of work.
Inevitably, some will try the leather-clad door at the end of the gallery, which seems to promise yet more wonders beyond…