About the Biblioteca Ambrosiana

The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is one of Italy’s hidden delights. It is both a world-class library and a picture gallery, and, as such, it is a repository of priceless literary and artistic masterpieces. It includes among its treasures paintings by Caravaggio and Titian, drawings by Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci, and manuscripts by Dante and Boccaccio.

The Library’s impressive collection consists of more than 15,000 manuscripts, 450,000 printed books, and a world-class collection of drawings and prints. Highlights of the collection include an illuminated Iliad from the fifth-century AD and the Codex Atlanticus, a 12-volume compendium containing 1750 drawings by Leonardo da Vinci.

Adding to its riches, the Paintings Gallery boasts more than 1500 works on panel, canvas and copper. Among its treasures are Raphael’s life-size preparatory cartoon for his famous School of Athens fresco in the Vatican and Caravaggio’s masterful Basket of Fruit that for years graced Italy’s 100,000 lire note. With its first-rate collections and ongoing scholarship, the Ambrosiana is a jewel in the crown of Milan and a true cultural treasure.

Visit the Biblioteca Ambrosiana's website by clicking here.


The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is:

•Among the first public libraries founded in Europe.

•One of Europe’s largest collections of antique manuscripts.

•The home of the largest collection of Leonardo da Vinci drawings in the world.

•A world-class art collection, including works by Caravaggio, Raphael, Botticelli, Rubens, Fillipino Lippi, and Titian.

•A promoter of the humanist tradition of scholarship .

 
300 Fifth Street, NE ~ Suite 250 ~ Washington, DC 20002
Telephone: (202) 546-3895 ~ Fax: (202) 546-3871 ~ E-mail: