Museo de’ Medici opens new library with 12,000 rare volumes on Florentine Humanism
In Florence, the Museo de’ Medici has unveiled a new library boasting over 12,000 volumes, which features 60 incunabula and 5,000 editions from the sixteenth century, thereby enriching the exploration of the Medici heritage. This library, derived from the Tiezzi Mazzoni della Stella Maestri collection, is situated within the Santa Maria degli Angeli complex, a site that previously housed a renowned Renaissance humanist library. The collection not only bolsters the museum’s research initiatives but also includes a significant sixteenth-century core and rare Medici decrees. Its collection of cinquecentine surpasses that of the Riccardiana Library and is threefold compared to the Laurentian Library. Additionally, an agreement between collector Paolo Tiezzi Maestri and director Samuele Lastrucci, with backing from President Eugenio Giani, has opened new historical spaces.
Key facts
- New library at Museo de’ Medici in Florence holds over 12,000 volumes.
- Collection includes more than 60 incunabula and about 5,000 sixteenth-century editions.
- Library is based on the Tiezzi Mazzoni della Stella Maestri fund.
- Located in Santa Maria degli Angeli complex, a former monastery with Brunelleschi's Rotonda.
- The site was a renowned humanist library in the Renaissance, frequented by Cosimo de’ Medici and Lorenzo the Magnificent.
- Sixteenth-century nucleus focuses on Florentine editions and Grand Duchy history.
- Corpus of Medici edicts offers rare primary sources on governance.
- Cinquecentine holdings surpass those of Riccardiana and are three times those of Laurenziana.
- Compared to Uffizi Library, incunabula are over twelve times more, cinquecentine twenty-six times more.
- Agreement also opened Chiostro degli Angeli, Cappella Ticci, refectory with Ghirlandaio's Last Supper, and former monastic church.
- Collector Paolo Tiezzi Maestri and director Samuele Lastrucci led the initiative.
- Supported by President Eugenio Giani.
Entities
Artists
- Cosimo de’ Medici
- Lorenzo de’ Medici
- Giovanni de’ Medici (Pope Leo X)
- Ambrogio Traversari
- Filippo Brunelleschi
- Domenico Ghirlandaio
- Cosimo I de’ Medici
- Caterina de’ Medici
- Paolo Tiezzi Maestri
- Samuele Lastrucci
- Eugenio Giani
Institutions
- Museo de’ Medici
- ANMIG di Firenze
- Biblioteca Riccardiana
- Biblioteca Laurenziana
- Biblioteca degli Uffizi
- Artribune
Locations
- Florence
- Italy
- Santa Maria degli Angeli
- Chiostro degli Angeli
- Cappella Ticci
- Rotonda del Brunelleschi