As far as sculptural works are concerned, the most valuable piece in the library is undoubtedly the statue of Cardinal Casanate, located in the Monumental Hall and made in 1708 from a single block of Carrara marble by the French sculptor Pierre Le Gros the Younger (Paris, 1666; Rome, 1719). It was commissioned by the dominican fathers of Minerva and intended for the primitive vestibule of the library above the church sacristy. Evidence of its original location can be found in a drawing by Le Gros, preserved in the casanatense historical archive (Ms. Cas. 421), in which the sculpture is placed in a niche surmounted by two winged putti holding the cardinals’ hat and coat of arms.
The large statue depicts Casanate in cardinal’s robes with sober drapery, but with large, elaborate lace; the figure, slender and elegant, has a serene expression that hints at a slight smile. The same facial expression is echoed in the cardinal’s herm on a wooden pedestal, made of bronze-coloured terracotta with gilded details.
In addition to the sculptures dedicated to the founder, 14 plaster busts take their place in the institute: illustrious men (Homer, Cicero, Lorenzo Valla, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Pomponio Leto, Marsilio Ficino, Giuseppe Baini, Carlo Cargiolli, Antonio Coppi, Giovanni Antonio Riccy, Artur Wolynski, Henryk Józef Piotr Levittoux, Ruggiero Bonghi), and a female portrait. Finally, placed above the entrance to the Directorate is the marble bust of Audiffredi, under whose leadership the Casanatense reached its peak. Some of the busts are works by sculptors such as Mauro Benini, Giovanni Biggi, Augusto Simonetti, Gaetano Ronca, and Teodor Rygier; others were made by anonymous artists.
The works depicting illustrious personalities are completed by two plaster medallions depicting Ignazio Giorgi, director from 1893 to 1923, and Luigi De Gregori, director from 1925 to 1936; the latter was executed by sculptor Carlo Fontana. The large gilded wooden medallion located in the Monumental Hall with the effigy of St. Thomas Aquinas with a Bible in his hand and supported by two angels; the plaster one depicting Giuseppe Verdi in profile to the left; and the plaster funeral mask within a concave tondo of the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, placed between bas-reliefs of the coats of arms of Poland (on the left), and Lithuania (on the right).
It is worth mentioning a cabinet, datable to the 18th century, with four small drawers to the right and left, each lined with two small squares of paesite. In the centre is another drawer with a flap, also made of paesite, inserted into an architectural motif reminiscent of the façade of a classical temple: a small pediment with two side pilasters made of green marble topped by composite capitals. The drawers contain the remains of shell collections.
Lastly, as far as objects are concerned, we would like to mention the 19th-century bronze-dyed plaster statuette depicting a seated Roman matron with a long, densely draped robe and hair gathered in an elaborate hairstyle; a plaster cast of a slab surmounted by a small sphinx, portrayed crouching and in profile to the left.