Biblioteca Ambrosiana.—This famous library was founded by Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, a cousin of San Carlo, and Archbishop of Milan in his turn from 1594 to 1631. He is the Cardinal Borromeo of Manzoni’s well-known romance, the Promessi Sposi. A man of great virtue, he was also a splendid patron of literature, science and art. The foundation of a library for the free use of his fellow-citizens and of all comers was a long-pondered scheme of the Cardinal, and for years he employed competent scholars to collect books and manuscripts in all countries, till he had amassed no less than fifteen thousand codices, many of exceeding rarity, and thirty thousand printed volumes. In 1603 the building was begun and in 1609 it was solemnly opened. Since then the treasures of the library have increased continually by gifts and legacies, and collections of pictures and prints, etc., have been added to it.
The entrance to the Ambrosiana is in the Piazza della Rosa. In the vestibule an inscription records the Founder, and another threatens with excommunication anyone who should carry away a book.
Biblioteca.—In the Sala Antica some of the chief treasures of the Library are exposed to view. Here is shown a page of the precious Codex Atlanticus, a volume of miscellaneous writings and drawings, chiefly of engineering subjects, by Leonardo da Vinci, collected and bound together by Pompeo Leoni in the latter part of the sixteenth century. Here, too, are twelve letters written by Lucrezia Borgia to Pietro Bembo, and with them a lock of golden hair, her gift to him, according to a long established belief, which there is no ground for discrediting. The same case contains a MS. of the Divina Commedia—late fourteenth century—with damaged miniatures; a Cicero, with very lovely and delicate miniatures of the early Cinquecento; a MS. with a miniatured page—St. Barnabas baptizing the first Christians in Milan—in the realistic Lombard manner of the sixteenth century, several books of Hours, and some very beautiful fifteenth century bindings, Italian and French. The famous Borromeo Book of Hours, one of the gems of the Library, is not shown here now, and can only be seen by permission of the Librarian. It is a little fifteenth century volume, adorned with numerous miniatures of exquisite workmanship by Cristoforo de Predis, a native of Modena, and apparently by another hand, perhaps more than one. On one of the pages the Annunciation is depicted, and below are two kneeling figures, a knight and lady, conjectured to be portraits of Conte Giovanni and Contessa Cleofe Borromeo. Besides scenes from the New Testament there is a calendar in the book with miniatures descriptive of the occupations of each month. The work is very delicate and fine, distinctively North Italian, but not heavy like the Milanese. Another case contains ancient manuscripts—Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, Ethiopian; a page of a Gothic version of the Bible belonging to a very precious palimpsest; two Irish manuscripts from the monastery of Bobbio, founded by St. Columban in the seventh century; a Syrian MS. of the eighth century in a later Greco-Egyptian binding, covered with stamped leather; some palimpsests and an Egyptian papyrus of B.C. 169. Deeply interesting is the copy of Virgil, which once belonged to Petrarca, and has minute marginal notes in his handwriting. It has a miniatured page attributed to Simone Martini, representing in allegorical form the different works of Virgil. On the back there is a note written by Petrarca concerning Laura. A French MS. of the fourteenth century has exquisitely fine miniatures representing the Vices and Virtues, and the Judgment. Among the remaining books in this case there is one, the treatise Regimine Principum, by Lucano da Parma, dedicated to Galeazzo Maria Sforza, with a miniature of that prince, a proud figure in black and gold, with St. Catherine.
In another case are a number of very interesting autographs, including a letter from Galileo to Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, lauding the Biblioteca Ambrosiana.
The Library also possesses some priceless fragments of the Iliad, with paintings of the third century, the most ancient illustrated text known, but these are not exhibited. There are reproductions of two of the illustrations in the Guide Book of the Ambrosiana.
A small case at the end of the room holds a unique printed copy of a letter written by Christopher Columbus on his return from the discovery of the New World. In another are some pages of Tasso, with his autograph corrections; an Ethiopian psaltery; an illustrated Persian MS., etc.
The Sala Incoronazione is part of an older building incorporated a century ago with the Library. At one end the wall is covered with a great fresco by Luini, Christ being crowned with thorns; the kneeling figures on either side, portraits of the Brothers of the Congregation of Santa Corona, to which the hall belonged, are very finely depicted, those on the left hand especially. Luini painted this fresco in 1521, with the help of an assistant, and was paid 115 lire, 9 soldi.
The Museo Settala, also on the ground floor, is open on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. It contains Etruscan, Roman, and Egyptian antiquities, and objects of mediæval art; a mineralogical collection; medals, weapons, and curiosities of various kinds.
Pinacoteca.—The picture galleries are on the upper floor.
Sala A.—Cabinet of the gilded bronzes contains German and Dutch pictures. Sala B has little of importance, but one may notice two panels by Bernardino Buttinone, St. Bonaventura (1) and St. Louis (5). By Bartolommeo Veneto, a Madonna and Child with St. John Baptist (3), and a Madonna picture by Bernardino Luini. Sala D contains the gem of the collection, Botticelli’s picture of the Madonna adoring the Child, and three angels (15). It is one of the most lovely of his Madonna pictures, luminous in colour, full of movement, and delicate in execution. Well placed on an easel in the middle of the room it can be seen by itself and thoroughly enjoyed. The small picture of the Eternal Father (6), now attributed to Timoteo Viti, is very refined; it was formerly given to Francesco Francia, and certainly reminds one of the Ferrarese-Bolognese school. Two pictures by Bramantino, the Virgin, with St. Ambrogio, angels and donors (18) is in his usual manner, but the Nativity (19) is a strange picture, and somewhat suggestive of the Northern schools, especially the Madonna with her abnormal forehead and quaint head-dress. The group of musicians behind are graceful figures standing up against the light sky. The large altarpiece by Borgognone, Madonna and Saints (23), an early work, possesses the dignity, simplicity, and devotion which are his unfailing qualities. The characteristics of his early period are to be seen in the straight and rather rigid figures, the badly foreshortened angels with large heads, and in the elaborate architectural throne and lavish use of gold. There are also by him, two Saints (17), St. Francis, rather sentimental, and St. Elizabeth, an elderly woman with a sympathetic face; the colour of the picture is pleasant.