DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62267#0038
28
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. I.
From these edifices therefore we will pass to
the Ambrosian library, an establishment which,
notwithstanding its appellation, has no connexion
with antiquity, and owes its existence entirely to
the munificence of Cardinal Federigo Borromeo,
nephew of St. Charles, and his successor in the
See of Milan. This prelate, who seems to have
inherited the virtues, if not the talents of his
uncle, began to collect books when a student at
Rome, and enlarging his plan as he advanced in
age and dignities, at length when raised to the
archbishopric, erected an edifice, placed his col-
lection in it, and opened it to the public under the
title of Bibliotheca Ambrosiana. It contains
about forty thousand volumes, and more, it is said,
than fifteen thousand manuscripts. There is also
annexed to this library a gallery of pictures,
statues, antiques, and medals, which contained
many articles of great rarity and reputation.
But these, whether statues, medals, or painting4,
have, together with the most valuable books and
manuscripts, been conveyed to Paris. hall
of this library is well-proportioned, plough not
so large as might be expected, an * as 1S indeed
requisite for a collection of bools so considerable.
The ceiling is adorned w^n paintings, and the
space between the }).v>kcases and the cornice
filled up, by the portraits of the most eminent
authors, whose writings are deposited below, or
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. I.
From these edifices therefore we will pass to
the Ambrosian library, an establishment which,
notwithstanding its appellation, has no connexion
with antiquity, and owes its existence entirely to
the munificence of Cardinal Federigo Borromeo,
nephew of St. Charles, and his successor in the
See of Milan. This prelate, who seems to have
inherited the virtues, if not the talents of his
uncle, began to collect books when a student at
Rome, and enlarging his plan as he advanced in
age and dignities, at length when raised to the
archbishopric, erected an edifice, placed his col-
lection in it, and opened it to the public under the
title of Bibliotheca Ambrosiana. It contains
about forty thousand volumes, and more, it is said,
than fifteen thousand manuscripts. There is also
annexed to this library a gallery of pictures,
statues, antiques, and medals, which contained
many articles of great rarity and reputation.
But these, whether statues, medals, or painting4,
have, together with the most valuable books and
manuscripts, been conveyed to Paris. hall
of this library is well-proportioned, plough not
so large as might be expected, an * as 1S indeed
requisite for a collection of bools so considerable.
The ceiling is adorned w^n paintings, and the
space between the }).v>kcases and the cornice
filled up, by the portraits of the most eminent
authors, whose writings are deposited below, or