Laurentian Library

Florence, Italy. Founded 1571.

• Type: Research
• City: Florence
• Country: Italy
• Founded: 1571

Overview

Commissioned by the Medici pope Clement VII and designed by Michelangelo, the Laurentian Library opened to scholars in 1571 above the cloister of San Lorenzo. Its vestibule staircase spills into a cramped, towering hall, a celebrated puzzle of Mannerist architecture, while the long reading room keeps the original carved benches to which manuscripts were once chained. The collection of roughly 11,000 manuscripts includes the Codex Amiatinus, the Florentine Codex, and the fifth century Vergilius Mediceus.