by Caterina Berruti
The Monumental Hall of the Casanatense Library
Once through the portal that leads from the square of the same name to the current cloister of the Dominican Convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, after passing the sacristy on the right, you enter the upper floor via a helical staircase that ends in front of a large glass door, surmounted by this marble inscription
AEMULA LIBERALITATIS ET BENEFICENTIAE CONTENTIONE JOANNES M. CASTELLANA LEGATIS DUODECIM AUREORUM MILLIBUS AMPLISSIMI AEDIFICI FUNDAMENTA POSUIT RELIGIOSA PRAEDICATORUM FAMILIA DIVAE MARIAE SUPER MINERVAM SUIS AC PIORUM IMPENDIS IN HANC FORMAM EXTRUXIT HIERONYMUS CARDINALIS CASANATE LECTISSIMA LIBRORUM SUPELLECTILI MENTEM AEDIBUS ADDIDIT.
This is the original entrance to the Casanatense, named in honor of Cardinal Girolamo Casanate, who, with the donation of his precious and large personal library, made it one of the most important cultural institutions in Rome and Europe from the very beginning. In addition to recalling the figure of the famous cardinal, the inscription refers to the intertwining of events, materials and ideals, from which the architectural realization of the large “vase” actually arose, which still today preserves in the original eighteenth-century shelves about 60,000 ancient volumes.
The main characters of this intricate and fascinating story are, in addition to Cardinal Casanate, the distinguished doctor and professor of anatomy Giovanni Maria Castellani and the General of the Dominicans, Father Antonin Cloche. The supporting characters appear from the very beginning, the Jesuits of the Roman College and the Dominicans of Minerva who later, from original “neighbors”, transformed into “quarrelsome” neighbors.
“[…] and since I have no greater delight or better patrimony than that of a beautiful library already built with great care by my father, I intend to allocate to the expansion of this not only my surplus, but also all my possessions, hoping that in this way I will have […] after death, a succession that will not perish so quickly in the memory of men.”
the lowered vault of the Hall and the windows
The noble intention, expressed in a letter of 27 August 1655 to Cardinal Facchinetti, is that of Girolamo Casanate. In fact, the expansion of his father’s library was pursued by Casanate until the last years of his life with great passion. Massive additions of new acquisitions followed one another and the collection of the Roman cardinal was considered among the most important in the city; the high shelves of the library, located in the Colonna Palace in the Pilotta where Casanate lived since 1680, contain well-aligned and arranged by subject manuscripts and printed books of every branch of knowledge: theology, law, morals, philosophy, history and literature; and then scientific texts, from mathematics to natural sciences, from geometry to those illustrating arts and crafts; more than the number of volumes – 20,000 or 25,000 according to some, much less according to others – what makes Casanate’s book collection precious is the value of the documentary material collected together with the wide range of cultural interests embraced, as can be seen from the numerous citations and the accurate descriptions of contemporaries themselves. What destination should be given to such a large and precious collection?
view from the balcony
Over the years, the original intention, also expressed in the letter to Facchinetti in 1655, to entrust the library to the College of Propaganda Fide and to make it available to the cardinals and the papal court, faded.
The real recipients of the Casanatense legacy were instead the Dominicans of S. Maria sopra Minerva who, following the cardinal’s suggestions when he was still alive and applying his testamentary provisions to the letter after his death, committed themselves to the construction of the “vessel” intended to house the library.
On March 3, 1700, when the cardinal died, the construction site was in full and feverish activity: the project had been entrusted to the architect Antonio Maria Borioni, while the person in charge of the works was Antonio Giobbe, master bricklayer. By the end of the year the masonry work was certainly completed, since in December the sum of 7,000 scudi was paid to Antonio Giobbe. The construction occupied the loggia for a length of 178 palms, approximately 40 meters. As for the width, it is assumed that it was the current width from the beginning, since the documentation relating to the expansion always speaks of the extension of the side walls.
The position of the new building, with its longer sides and windows facing north and south, presents the architect with the problem of lighting; in fact, the large room is not oriented according to the classic rules of Vitruvius, according to which the openings of a library must be placed to the east, to enjoy the morning light and protect books and readers from damp winds. On the other hand, in Rome, the Vatican Library had already been built completely ignoring the dictates of Vitruvius.
To complicate the problem of orientation, it must be considered that, in combining architectural structure and library functionality, the greatest difficulty of both an aesthetic and design nature consists precisely in the positioning of the windows; in fact, the need to acquire more and more space for books inevitably pushes the openings upwards.
the bookcases closed by a metal net
The double problem is solved by Borioni in a substantially innovative way, even if inspired by previous creations, with the opening of the windows, the only source of light, at the greatest possible distance from the floor. The windows, of normal rectangular shape, are distributed on all four sides and pushed under the lowered barrel vault, indeed decidedly squashed, jagged along the entire perimeter by narrow lunettes that enclose them.
In the month of August, contracts are drawn up with carpenters and blacksmiths. We know from Father Masetti – the last prefect of Casanatense, author of Memoirs (ms 5068) – that shelves are made on two superimposed orders: the lower shelves are screened by iron mesh doors, while a gallery is designed for access to the upper level. The shelves and the reading benches are made by Benedetto Gigli, whose work is attested until 1707 for a total cost of 3726 scudi; the carving work was entrusted to Francesco Bracci, while the ironwork and the iron screens protecting the low shelves, as well as the railing along the gallery, were entrusted to the blacksmith Giuseppe Ragazzotti for a cost of 1069 scudi.
Immediately after the cardinal’s death, Cloche took possession of the inheritance. The inventory of the deceased’s assets lasted for four months; in the end the amount of the inheritance was 102,945 scudi. The provisions on the foundation of the library were very detailed, connected to the institution of two chairs for the explanation of Thomistic texts and a college of six theologians.
the library in a 19th century engraving
The library must be located in the premises that the Dominican fathers themselves have provided; it is entrusted to the direction and administration of six high prelates, all Dominicans: the General Master of the order, the Master of the Sacred Apostolic Palace, the Commissioner of the Holy Office, the Secretary of the Index, the General Procurator and the Prior of Minerva; its management and administration must be rigorously separate from that of the convent and all its income is intended for the functioning of the library itself and the enrichment of its book collections.
On 7 July 1700, the college of deputies appointed by the cardinal met for the first time; and while the work continued in the Hall, the deputies appointed the six theologians, the two professors and the two librarians: the latter, Raffaele Maria Filamondo and Carlo Giacinto Lascaris, would also be the first prefects of the Casanatense, respectively from 1700 to 1705 the first and until 1711 the second.
On 7 March 1701, a year after the cardinal’s death, while the library was still being set up, the professors’ lessons began. The start of the lessons was announced by a printed notice of which the expense note is preserved.
The library’s installation phase can be said to be concluded at this point; perhaps even the cardinal’s books were already largely placed in the “scanzie” prepared by Cloche.
the original entrance to the library, now hidden by a green curtain
In the following years the original “vase” of the library was completed and perfected.
In 1704 two inscriptions were placed in the atrium. In 1710 two more inscriptions were added, one in marble in front of the entrance door is dedicated to Casanate, the other, on the door, recalls the prohibition under penalty of excommunication to remove books from the Library, established by Pope Clement XI with a papal bull of 18 July 1703, together with the task of preserving the books prohibited by the Index.
On 6 March 1708 the large statue of Cardinal Casanate, the work of Pierre Le Gros, had been placed in the atrium.
But by 1717 it was clear that the Hall was no longer sufficient. Fathers Zuanelli and Minorelli, responsible for the Library, decided to expand it. Borioni was consulted again: the architect prepared plans and drawings and also had a wooden model made which was exhibited to the public in 1718.
the so-called “Cardinal’s room”
Ultimately, it is a question of rebuilding the library and renovating the entire building complex on which it stands. Borioni’s new project in fact includes the demolition of the previous building in order to reinforce the foundations, the reconstruction of the side walls, the southern one on the alley and the northern one on the large garden, which will be brought up to via S. Ignazio in this phase after demolishing the houses and shops overlooking the street (owned by both the Convent and private individuals), the construction from scratch of the wall on the street, the reinforcement of the level below the floor with vaulted ceilings on the cellar floor, the complete reconstruction of the roof and finally the arrangement of houses, shops and warehouses. The total expected costs amount to 20,000 scudi.
The project is satisfactory; the economic problems related to finding funds for the new building and the compensation due to the Convent for the premises to be demolished were happily resolved, in April 1719 the Scandaglio della spesa and the Scandaglio della fabrica were drawn up, which agreed on a sum of just over 14,000 scudi. The specifications were also signed with the companies that would carry out the work.
The demolition and masonry work began: begun in May, they were completed by the end of the year, despite the forced interruption of almost five months, from July to November, due to the legal dispute caused by the Jesuits of the Roman College who felt they had been damaged by the new building on the road.
Bust of Saint Thomas, modeled in terracotta by Bernardino Cametti
On the side of the alley of S. Ignazio the ground was not solid enough; so they proceeded to shore up with 19 steps, and then to the actual construction. The wall was extended by about 23 meters (105 palms). The foundations of the wall that faces north, onto the large garden, were placed on pre-existing structures to which about six meters of new foundations were added (25 palms); and although this wall was reinforced by casting an arch, over time it would present such lesions that in 1840 it required the support of a sloping buttress, which is still visible. Once the foundations of the wall on via S. Ignazio had been cast, the external lateral walls were raised.
At the end of 1719 the external walls of the library can be considered completed. It is now a question of proceeding with the vaults, the roofs and the building renovation of the entire complex, through the arrangement of the cellars, as well as the shops, houses and warehouses underneath. The work will continue for another 6 years, until 1725.
Along with the bricklayers, the blacksmiths and stonecutters also worked hard on the construction site. All the carpentry work was entrusted to Giacomo Marchese. The same craftsman was entrusted with the making of the shelves in the Hall, as well as the execution, based on the design of the architect Borioni, of the triumphal arch supported by walnut columns placed on the back wall of the Hall and intended to house the statue of the cardinal, moved here in 1724.
The operation was preceded by the construction of an arch to reinforce the floor, still visible in the space below.
A bust of Saint Thomas, modeled in terracotta by Bernardino Cametti, was then inserted above the niche. The gilding of the medallion was carried out by Giovanni Cantoni, while other gilding work was carried out by Modesto Lipone and Angelo Rezzi. The “brass-worker” Pietro Benigni supplied the brass balls, placed at regular intervals along the railing of the gallery of the second order of shelves in the Hall. The carving works were entrusted to Domenico Abbondanza and Domenico Antonio Giovanelli.
In 1729, when the Library received a visit from Pope Benedict XIII, the works could be considered truly concluded: the large “vase” now extends on one side over the sacristy of the basilica and the annexed rooms, while on the other it extends towards Via S. Ignazio, overlooking rooms used as shops, warehouses and private homes.
In subsequent years, the Library acquired rooms belonging to the convent, in particular the long series of rooms adjacent to it: the first room, now called the “Cardinal’s”, was used as a repository for manuscripts, while the most precious books and prints were placed in the subsequent rooms, as they were moved from the Hall, which was open to the public at the time.
The Cardinal’s room receives special attention: the ceiling was frescoed in 1736 by Giovanni Mezzetti with the depiction of the glory of St. Thomas and also in 1736 it was furnished with the large walnut wardrobes that today house the Casanatense Archive, which collects both the Cardinal’s papers and the documentation relating to the Dominican administration of the Institute, as well as administrative documents relating to the government management of the Library until the early twentieth century.
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The editorial text is taken from a chapter of La Biblioteca Casanatense: architectural choices and building constructions from the idea of the large “vase” to the current state, an unpublished study by the architect Caterina Berruti, created during the internship in Casanatense in 1996.