FLORENCE: VISIT IN THE TOWN
You can find the entrance to the Laurentian Library to the left facing the facade of the beautiful Basilica of San Lorenzo inside the cloisters projected by Brunelleschi.
The collection was started by Cosimo ‘the Elder’ and enlarged by his son Piero and Lorenzo the Magnificent. It is an extraordinarily rich library containing handwritten documents and illuminated manuscripts, purchased in the markets of the Orient by the merchants and agents in the Guild of Physicians from the time of Giovanni di Bicci, and further increased after the Council of Florence in 1439, when the Greek scholars who were part of the following of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Emperor, stayed in the city and were welcomed with all honours. This cultural environment, which was generously hosted by Cosimo ‘the Elder’, was to nurture the ideals of Humanism, then in its earliest stages. The most important codes preserved here include the so-called “Codex Mediceus of Virgil” (4th-5th century), the Justinian “Pandects” (a digest of 6th century law that forms the basis of modern law), as well as the famous Amiatinus Bible, in other words, the oldest complete edition of the Bible with the text of the Vulgate of St. Jerome, and rare examples of Italian-Saxon illumination. The Laurentian Library building was started in the summer of 1524 by Michelangelo, who, in three years, created its beautiful entrance hall with an artificial play of windows, pilasters and friezes, the incredible staircase (added later by Ammannati following his ideas), which looks more like a piece of sculpture, thanks to the imaginative curving lines used for the treads and spirals, and then the huge elegant reading room. Lastly, he also wanted to leave his mark on the design of the ceilings, the reading desks and the seats, created in various types of precious wood. From the architectural point of view, the building is a fine example of the Mannerist style. Work on the building was interrupted after Michelangelo’s departure from Florence in 1534 and then completed following his designs and advices by Ammannati and Vasari until 1568.
LE FOTO SONO DELLA BIBLIOTECA MEDICEA LAURENZIANA DI FIRENZE
