Literary grandeur

Literary grandeur

by Edvige and Bill Coleman   Until January 11, 2014, the Laurentian library in piazza San Lorenzo is hosting an inspiring exhibit, Boccaccio autore e copista. For a three-euro admission fee to the San Lorenzo cloister, visitors reach the exhibit via  Michelangelo’s grand staircase and Lorenzo

bookmark
Thu 12 Dec 2013 1:00 AM

by Edvige and Bill Coleman

 

Until January 11, 2014, the Laurentian library in piazza San Lorenzo is hosting an inspiring exhibit, Boccaccio autore e copista. For a three-euro admission fee to the San Lorenzo cloister, visitors reach the exhibit via  Michelangelo’s grand staircase and Lorenzo de’ Medici’s splendid library.

 

Celebrating the 700th anniversary of the birth of Giovanni Boccaccio, the great poet and writer of the Decameron, the exhibit displays autographed copies of the author’s own works. Nine of the fourteen surviving autographs of Boccaccio’s works are in Florentine libraries, and all nine can be seen in the exhibit. Among the 56 items on display are copies that Boccaccio made of the works of other writers: Dante, Petrarch, the medieval poets and philosophers, and the Latin classics.

 

Besides his writing and scholarship, Boccaccio was a skilled scribe. Several manuscripts in the exhibit display his exquisite penmanship, designs and painting. A multimedia display shows how modern technology can rescue lost and faded readings in medieval manuscripts.

 

The exhibit is open from Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 1.30pm. The cloister and library are located at piazza San Lorenzo 9, to the left of the church entrance.

Related articles

NEWS

Public transport in Florence and Tuscany becomes contactless

Visa cardholders can ride for free from April 10 to May 5, 2024.

NEWS

Sephora opens flagship store in via dei Calzaiuoli

Highlights include make-up services and just-released beauty ranges.

NEWS

Changes at the Uffizi

Paperless ticketing, evening and the occasional Monday openings

LIGHT MODE
DARK MODE