McKim Building of the Boston Public Library and its murals

The McKim Building of the Boston Public Library, completed in 1895, is a landmark Beaux-Arts structure that houses notable mural cycles by artists including John Singer Sargent and Edwin Austin Abbey. The Boston Public Library was established in 1848 and the McKim Building was one of the early grand public library buildings in the United States, widely cited in architectural histories. The building and its art have been central to Boston's cultural and civic identity for over a century.