Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana. The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana is a public library in Venice, Italy.
Founded in 1468 as the library of the Republic of Venice, it is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and depositories for manuscript in Italy and holds one of the greatest collections of classical texts in the world. It is named after St. Mark, the patron saint of the city.
The original building, prominently located in Saint Mark's Square with the long façade facing the Doge's Palace, is the masterpiece of Jacopo Sansovino and a key work in Venetian Renaissance architecture. The great architect Andrea Palladio considered it perhaps the richest and most ornate building that there has been since ancient times up until now, and Frederick Hartt described it as surely one of the most satisfying structures in Italian architectural history.
No less important for its art, the library houses many works by the great painters of sixteenth-century Venice, making it a comprehensive monument to Venetian Mannerism. Today, the historical building is customarily referred to as the Libreria sansoviniana and is largely a museum.
The library offices, the reading rooms, and most of the collection are housed in the adjoining Zecca, the former mint of the Republic of Venice. Cathedral and monastic libraries were the principal centers of study and learning throughout the Middle Ages. But beginning in the fifteenth centur
Founded in 1468 as the library of the Republic of Venice, it is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and depositories for manuscript in Italy and holds one of the greatest collections of classical texts in the world. It is named after St. Mark, the patron saint of the city.
The original building, prominently located in Saint Mark's Square with the long façade facing the Doge's Palace, is the masterpiece of Jacopo Sansovino and a key work in Venetian Renaissance architecture. The great architect Andrea Palladio considered it perhaps the richest and most ornate building that there has been since ancient times up until now, and Frederick Hartt described it as surely one of the most satisfying structures in Italian architectural history.
No less important for its art, the library houses many works by the great painters of sixteenth-century Venice, making it a comprehensive monument to Venetian Mannerism. Today, the historical building is customarily referred to as the Libreria sansoviniana and is largely a museum.
The library offices, the reading rooms, and most of the collection are housed in the adjoining Zecca, the former mint of the Republic of Venice. Cathedral and monastic libraries were the principal centers of study and learning throughout the Middle Ages. But beginning in the fifteenth centur
Wikipedia ...