Michelangelo designing history and the Medici legacy
The Laurentian Library, nestled into the complex of Basilica di San Marco, represents Florence’s artistic, historic, and intellectual past. It is a museum, a library, a home for one of the world’s most important manuscript collections, an architectural icon, and a hidden gem. Designed by Michelangelo for the infamous and powerful Medici family, it captures the cultural inheritance of the Renaissance within an imposing, grand structure – the culmination of Michelangelo’s unique Florentine architectural style.
The Laurentian Library is a fusion of Florence and Rome. The Medici, once immensely wealthy bankers and de-facto rulers of Renaissance Florence, had now leveraged their power to become a Papal family. It was Pope Clement VII, born as Giulio di Giuliano de’ Medici, who commissioned Michelangelo, using his new Roman powers and wealth to honour the heritage of his Florentine ancestors. For these families, displays of intellectual prowess were a form of soft power, a conspicuous show of wealth, influence, and taste.
Clement VII did not merely want a storage room for an old collection of books; he wanted a magnificent construction, and a rival to the immense Vatican library. Michelangelo was a perfect choice; a Florentine artist whose own career spanned the two cities, the man who would, some decades later, be chosen to construct the iconic St Peter’s Basilica, the seat of Papal power.
Manuscript collection
The cultural heritage the Medici sought to preserve was tremendous. The Laurentian Library contains one of the most important collections of manuscripts in the world – a mere 11,000 of them. They also have more than four thousand early printed books. As you wander down the optically endless corridor, you will pass by displays of stunning illustrated manuscripts.
Before the printing press, it was these, hand-painted and bound, that preserved text and stories, and in this collection you will find some of the most precious examples in every field; the earliest surviving manuscript of the Latin Vulgate Bible, a major source on information about the pre-conquest Aztec Empire, a famous Virgil text, a manuscript of the Decameron copied from Boccacio’s own original.
Even for the Medici in the 1500s, this was a project of historical preservation – for us, then, more than five hundred years later, it is priceless literary knowledge. The Laurentian Library is conservation in layers; the ancient knowledge in its pages, the texts and illustrations that span the centuries between, and our modern understanding of the Medici family and Italian society which chose to pass down this knowledge.
Architectural style
The architectural style of the Laurentian Library was remarkable then and now. For those who feel they have wandered Florence enough, who are used to the geometric symmetries of Brunelleschi basilicas, be prepared for something new. Vasari, a Renaissance man famous for his biographies of prominent artists, wrote that Michelangelo broke the ties and chains which had constrained architects, deliberately abandoning the traditional emphasis on harmony and proportion in Florentine architecture.
Mannerism: a new style of architecture
In fact, Michelangelo deliberately manipulated those Classical elements, subverting expectations and pushing the boundaries of what Florentine style could really be. The recessed columns, deprived of decoration, almost mock their Classical ancestors, while the staircase, far from neat and clean symmetry, seems to flow into the room like a waterfall. This example of Mannerist architecture was an evolution in style, inviting exaggeration and hyperbole into a more dramatic interpretation of good design.
Classical elements
After the confronting vestibule is another surprise: the far more Classical, proportionate Reading Room. With a stunning contrast between the rich, warm wooden ceilings, the pale plaster and the deep grey-green pietra serena, Michelangelo displays his intent to create a composito: a mix of groundbreaking Mannerist exaggeration and more conservative Classical symmetry. Within these proportionate features is the Renaissance desire to emulate the power and authority of Ancient Rome. The Tribune of Elci, today a room reserved for study, is topped by a dome reminiscent of the Pantheon.
A new Florentine style
Michelangelo’s novel style gives us an insight into the culture of the Florentine and Roman aristocracies; their desire to fl aunt their power through culture, their increasing nostalgia for their ancestors, especially Lorenzo the Magnifi cent, and their increasing national pride. Michelangelo adopted forms from Roman culture, and other Italian artists, and made them Florentine, ambitiously presenting a new version of Florentine culture – one which converted the power and strength of others into their own.
The Laurentian Library stands as a remarkable testament to the legacy of Michelangelo, the influence of the Medici family, and the cultural powerhouses of Florence and Rome. Through its striking architecture, manuscript collection, and layered symbolism, it weaves together the threads of literature, religion, politics, the papacy, and art, offering a profound glimpse into the conflict and evolution of culture within Renaissance Italy.
Piazza di San Lorenzo
Opening Times: 10am-1pm on weekdays only
(Access to the reading room is via reservation – Only 10 people are allowed a day)
Tickets: €5
