fbpx
Wikipedia

Biblioteca Ambrosiana

January 01, 1970

The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded in 1609 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, whose agents scoured Western Europe and even Greece and Syria for books and manuscripts. Some major acquisitions of complete libraries were the manuscripts of the Benedictine monastery of Bobbio (1606) and the library of the Paduan Vincenzo Pinelli, whose more than 800 manuscripts filled 70 cases when they were sent to Milan and included the famous Iliad, the Ilias Picta.

Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
Entrance to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana
Established1609
LocationPiazza Pio XI 2, 20123, Milan, Italy
Coordinates45°27′47″N 9°11′07″E / 45.4631°N 9.1854°E / 45.4631; 9.1854
DirectorAlberto Rocca
Websitewww.ambrosiana.it

History edit

 
Leonardo da Vinci Crossbow sketch, Codex Atlanticus

During Cardinal Borromeo's sojourns in Rome, 1585–95 and 1597–1601, he envisioned developing this library in Milan as one open to scholars and that would serve as a bulwark of Catholic scholarship in the service of the Counter-Reformation against the treatises issuing from Protestant presses. To house the cardinal's 15,000 manuscripts and twice that many printed books, construction began in 1603 under designs and direction of Lelio Buzzi and Francesco Maria Richini. When its first reading room, the Sala Fredericiana, opened to the public on 8 December 1609 it was one of the earliest public libraries. One innovation was that its books were housed in cases ranged along the walls, rather than chained to reading tables, the latter a medieval practice seen still today in the Laurentian Library of Florence. A printing press was attached to the library, and a school for instruction in the classical languages.

Constant acquisitions, soon augmented by bequests, required enlargement of the space. Borromeo intended an academy (which opened in 1625) and a collection of pictures, for which a new building was initiated in 1611–18 to house the Cardinal's paintings and drawings, the nucleus of the Pinacoteca.

Cardinal Borromeo gave his collection of paintings and drawings to the library, too. Shortly after the cardinal's death, his library acquired twelve manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci, including the Codex Atlanticus. The library now contains some 12,000 drawings by European artists, from the 14th through the 19th centuries, which have come from the collections of a wide range of patrons and artists, academicians, collectors, art dealers, and architects. Prized manuscripts, including the Leonardo codices, were requisitioned by the French during the Napoleonic occupation, and only partly returned after 1815.

 
Leonardo's Portrait of a Musician

On 15 October 1816 the Romantic poet Lord Byron visited the library. He was delighted by the letters between Lucrezia Borgia and Pietro Bembo ("The prettiest love letters in the world"[1][2]) and claimed to have managed to steal a lock of her hair ("the prettiest and fairest imaginable."[2]) held on display.[3][4][5]

The novelist Mary Shelley visited the library on 14 September 1840 but was disappointed by the tight security occasioned by the recent attempted theft of "some of the relics of Petrarch" housed there.[6]

Among the 30,000 manuscripts, which range from Greek and Latin to Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic,[7] Ethiopian, Turkish and Persian, is the Muratorian fragment, of ca 170 A.D., the earliest example of a Biblical canon and an original copy of De divina proportione by Luca Pacioli. Among Christian and Islamic Arabic manuscripts are treatises on medicine, a unique 11th-century diwan of poets, and the oldest copy of the Kitab Sibawahaihi.

The library has a college of Doctors, similar to the scriptors of the Vatican Library. Among prominent figures have been Giuseppe Ripamonti, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Giuseppe Antonio Sassi, Cardinal Angelo Mai and, at the beginning of the 20th century, Antonio Maria Ceriani, Achille Ratti (on 8 November 1888),[8][9] the future Pope Pius XI, and Giovanni Mercati. Ratti wrote a new edition of the Acta Ecclesiae Mediolanensis ("Acts of the Church of Milan"), Latin work firstly published by the cardinal Federico Borromeo in 1582.[9][8]

The building was damaged in World War II, with the loss of the archives of opera libretti of La Scala, but was restored in 1952 and underwent major restorations in 1990–97.

Artwork at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana includes Leonardo da Vinci's Portrait of a Musician, Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit, Bramantino's Adoration of the Christ Child and Raphael's cartoon of "The School of Athens".

 
Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit

Some manuscripts edit

References edit

  1. ^ Ian Thompson, review, The Spectator, 25 June 2005, of Viragos on the march by Gaia Servadio. I. B. Tauris, ISBN 1-85043-421-2.
  2. ^ a b Quattrocchi, Ed (October 2005). (PDF). Caxtonian: Journal of the Caxton Club of Chicago. XIII (10). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2006.
  3. ^ The Byron Chronology: 1816–1819 – Separation and Exile on the Continent.
  4. ^ Byron by John Nichol.
  5. ^ Letter to Augusta Leigh, Milan, 15 October 1816. Lord Byron's Letters and Journals, Chapter 5: Separation and Exile 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ^ Shelley, Mary (1996). Travel Writing. London: Pickering. p. 132. ISBN 1-85196-084-8.
  7. ^ Oscar Löfgren and Renato Traini, Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, vol. I (1975), ii (1981) onwards.
  8. ^ a b don Vincenzo Maraschi (Ambrosiane Doctor) (1938). Le Particolarità Del Rito Ambrosiano (in Italian). Milan. p. 1, 7, 174. Retrieved 10 April 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link), with imprimatur of Milan Curia (in person of friar Castiglioni) on 9 August 1938, and of cardinal Schuster
  9. ^ a b Carlo Marcora (1996). "Achille Ratti and the Biblioteca Ambrosiana". Publications de l'École Française de Rome (in Italian and French). 223 (1): 56. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.

Further reading edit

External links edit

  • Virtual tour of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana provided by Google Arts & Culture
  •   Media related to Biblioteca Ambrosiana at Wikimedia Commons

January 01, 1970
biblioteca, ambrosiana, historic, library, milan, italy, also, housing, pinacoteca, ambrosiana, ambrosian, gallery, named, after, ambrose, patron, saint, milan, founded, 1609, cardinal, federico, borromeo, whose, agents, scoured, western, europe, even, greece,. The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan Italy also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana the Ambrosian art gallery Named after Ambrose the patron saint of Milan it was founded in 1609 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo whose agents scoured Western Europe and even Greece and Syria for books and manuscripts Some major acquisitions of complete libraries were the manuscripts of the Benedictine monastery of Bobbio 1606 and the library of the Paduan Vincenzo Pinelli whose more than 800 manuscripts filled 70 cases when they were sent to Milan and included the famous Iliad the Ilias Picta Pinacoteca AmbrosianaEntrance to the Biblioteca AmbrosianaEstablished1609LocationPiazza Pio XI 2 20123 Milan ItalyCoordinates45 27 47 N 9 11 07 E 45 4631 N 9 1854 E 45 4631 9 1854DirectorAlberto RoccaWebsitewww wbr ambrosiana wbr it Contents 1 History 2 Some manuscripts 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksHistory editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed January 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message nbsp Leonardo da Vinci Crossbow sketch Codex Atlanticus During Cardinal Borromeo s sojourns in Rome 1585 95 and 1597 1601 he envisioned developing this library in Milan as one open to scholars and that would serve as a bulwark of Catholic scholarship in the service of the Counter Reformation against the treatises issuing from Protestant presses To house the cardinal s 15 000 manuscripts and twice that many printed books construction began in 1603 under designs and direction of Lelio Buzzi and Francesco Maria Richini When its first reading room the Sala Fredericiana opened to the public on 8 December 1609 it was one of the earliest public libraries One innovation was that its books were housed in cases ranged along the walls rather than chained to reading tables the latter a medieval practice seen still today in the Laurentian Library of Florence A printing press was attached to the library and a school for instruction in the classical languages Constant acquisitions soon augmented by bequests required enlargement of the space Borromeo intended an academy which opened in 1625 and a collection of pictures for which a new building was initiated in 1611 18 to house the Cardinal s paintings and drawings the nucleus of the Pinacoteca Cardinal Borromeo gave his collection of paintings and drawings to the library too Shortly after the cardinal s death his library acquired twelve manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci including the Codex Atlanticus The library now contains some 12 000 drawings by European artists from the 14th through the 19th centuries which have come from the collections of a wide range of patrons and artists academicians collectors art dealers and architects Prized manuscripts including the Leonardo codices were requisitioned by the French during the Napoleonic occupation and only partly returned after 1815 nbsp Leonardo s Portrait of a Musician On 15 October 1816 the Romantic poet Lord Byron visited the library He was delighted by the letters between Lucrezia Borgia and Pietro Bembo The prettiest love letters in the world 1 2 and claimed to have managed to steal a lock of her hair the prettiest and fairest imaginable 2 held on display 3 4 5 The novelist Mary Shelley visited the library on 14 September 1840 but was disappointed by the tight security occasioned by the recent attempted theft of some of the relics of Petrarch housed there 6 Among the 30 000 manuscripts which range from Greek and Latin to Hebrew Syriac Arabic 7 Ethiopian Turkish and Persian is the Muratorian fragment of ca 170 A D the earliest example of a Biblical canon and an original copy of De divina proportione by Luca Pacioli Among Christian and Islamic Arabic manuscripts are treatises on medicine a unique 11th century diwan of poets and the oldest copy of the Kitab Sibawahaihi The library has a college of Doctors similar to the scriptors of the Vatican Library Among prominent figures have been Giuseppe Ripamonti Ludovico Antonio Muratori Giuseppe Antonio Sassi Cardinal Angelo Mai and at the beginning of the 20th century Antonio Maria Ceriani Achille Ratti on 8 November 1888 8 9 the future Pope Pius XI and Giovanni Mercati Ratti wrote a new edition of the Acta Ecclesiae Mediolanensis Acts of the Church of Milan Latin work firstly published by the cardinal Federico Borromeo in 1582 9 8 The building was damaged in World War II with the loss of the archives of opera libretti of La Scala but was restored in 1952 and underwent major restorations in 1990 97 Artwork at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana includes Leonardo da Vinci s Portrait of a Musician Caravaggio s Basket of Fruit Bramantino s Adoration of the Christ Child and Raphael s cartoon of The School of Athens nbsp Caravaggio s Basket of FruitSome manuscripts editUncial 0135 fragments of the gospels of Matthew Mark and Luke Codex Ambrosianus 435 Ambrosianus 837 treatise On the Soul of Aristotle Minuscule manuscripts of New Testament 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 614 615 Lectionaries ℓ 102 ℓ 103 ℓ 104 ℓ 105 ℓ 106 ℓ 284 ℓ 285 ℓ 286 ℓ 287 ℓ 288 ℓ 289 ℓ 290 Codices Ambrosiani containing the Gothic language ms D 437 inf 16th century containing a copy of the late 13th century Liber colorum secundum Magistrum BernardumReferences edit Ian Thompson review The Spectator 25 June 2005 of Viragos on the march by Gaia Servadio I B Tauris ISBN 1 85043 421 2 a b Quattrocchi Ed October 2005 Pietro Bembo A Renaissance Courtier Who Had His Cake and Ate It Too PDF Caxtonian Journal of the Caxton Club of Chicago XIII 10 Archived from the original PDF on 3 October 2006 The Byron Chronology 1816 1819 Separation and Exile on the Continent Byron by John Nichol Letter to Augusta Leigh Milan 15 October 1816 Lord Byron s Letters and Journals Chapter 5 Separation and Exile Archived 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Shelley Mary 1996 Travel Writing London Pickering p 132 ISBN 1 85196 084 8 Oscar Lofgren and Renato Traini Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana vol I 1975 ii 1981 onwards a b don Vincenzo Maraschi Ambrosiane Doctor 1938 Le Particolarita Del Rito Ambrosiano in Italian Milan p 1 7 174 Retrieved 10 April 2022 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link with imprimatur of Milan Curia in person of friar Castiglioni on 9 August 1938 and of cardinal Schuster a b Carlo Marcora 1996 Achille Ratti and the Biblioteca Ambrosiana Publications de l Ecole Francaise de Rome in Italian and French 223 1 56 Archived from the original on 12 December 2018 Retrieved 27 December 2018 Further reading editCatalogus codicum graecorum Bibliothecae Ambrosianae Mediolani 1906 Tomus I Catalogus codicum graecorum Bibliothecae Ambrosianae Mediolani 1906 Tomus II Herbermann Charles ed 1913 The Ambrosian Library Catholic Encyclopedia New York Robert Appleton Company Biblioteca Ambrosiana website select English Ambrosiana Foundation U S support organization Inventory Catalog of Drawings at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana http www 1st art gallery com Edward Clifford Edward Clifford oil paintings html Ambrosian Library New International Encyclopedia 1905 External links editVirtual tour of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana provided by Google Arts amp Culture nbsp Media related to Biblioteca Ambrosiana at Wikimedia Commons Portal nbsp Art Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Biblioteca Ambrosiana amp oldid 1215973127, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.