The Biblioteca Estense (English: Estense Library), was the family library of the marquises and dukes of the House of Este. The exact date of the library's birth is still under speculation, however it is known for certain that the library was in use during the fourteenth century. [1] Whilst it was greatly enriched during the Renaissance years in Ferrara, the library was concretely established in Modena in the beginning of the seventeenth century. It is known as one of the most important libraries in Italy. [1] The library is located, along with the Galleria Estense directly below its collection of artworks, in the Palazzo dei Musei (Piazza Sant'Agostino 337) in Modena.
On the ascension of the Marquis Niccolò III d'Este to the Ferrarese duchy in 1393, he inherited an important humanistic library, rich in works of literary, historical and artistic content. Its collection grew considerably during the Renaissance period with manuscripts and printed editions considered today to be of fundamental value, thanks to the refined and attentive patronage of the Este dukes. In 1598, the Library followed the dynasty when the capital was transferred from Ferrara to Modena.
In the following centuries, the Estense Library continued to be enriched with local and international works, funded by the acquisitions of suppressed religious institutions as well as enriched by the elevated tastes of famous librarians Ludovico Antonio Muratori and Girolamo Tiraboschi. After the Unification of Italy, the Estense Library merged with the University Library, which brought with it an important collection of philosophical, juridical and scientific texts. Thus was born the Estense University Library, considered today as a modern institute of national interest.
Today the Library's collection contains more than 500,000 printed works, about 11,000 codexes, more than 100,000 manuscript leaves, and 1,662 incunabula. Among the manuscripts, the most famous is the 1,200-page Bible of Borso d'Este , extensively bordered with miniatures. The relic would be recovered and returned to Modena following the First World War. Bought at an auction, it was gifted to Italy on behalf of Senator Giovanni Treccani. The Bible is today excluded from public view for reasons of conservation, a 1963 replica now takes its place in the Biblioteca Estense.
The library holds many medieval manuscripts, among them biblical manuscripts: Codex Mutinensis, Minuscule 358, 359, 585, 586, 618, ℓ111.
Also known worldwide is its collection of musical manuscripts and printed books, the Raccolta musicale estense.
The House of Este is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries.
The Duchy of Modena and Reggio was an Italian state created in 1452 located in Northwestern Italy, in the present day region of Emilia-Romagna. It was ruled since its establishment by the noble House of Este, and from 1814 by the Austria-Este branch of the family. The Este dynasty was a great sponsor of the arts, making the Duchy a cultural reference during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
This is a list of rulers of the estates owned by the Este family, which main line of Marquesses rose in 1039 with Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan. The name "Este" is related to the city where the family came from, Este.
The Duchy of Ferrara was a state in what is now northern Italy. It consisted of about 1,100 km2 south of the lower Po River, stretching to the valley of the lower Reno River, including the city of Ferrara. The territory that was part of the Duchy was ruled by the House of Este from 1146 to 1597.
Borso d'Este was the duke of Ferrara the first duke of Modena, which he ruled from 1450 until his death. He was a member of the House of Este.
The Ducal Palace in Sassuolo is a Baroque villa located in the town of Sassuolo, thirty minutes outside Modena, northern Italy.
Tito Vespasiano Strozzi was an Italian Renaissance poet at the Este court of Ferrara, who figures as an interlocutor in Angelo Decembrio's De politia litteraria.
The Galleria Estense is an art gallery in the heart of Modena, centred around the collection of the d’Este family: rulers of Modena, Reggio and Ferrara from 1289 to 1796. Located on the top floor of the Palazzo dei Musei, on the St. Augustine square, the museum showcases a vast array of works ranging from fresco and oil painting to marble, polychrome and terracotta sculpture; musical instruments; numismatics; curios and decorative antiques.
Taddeo Crivelli, also known as Taddeo da Ferrara, was an Italian painter of illuminated manuscripts. He is considered one of the foremost 15th-century illuminators of the Ferrara school, and also has the distinction of being the probable engraver of the first book illustrated with maps, which was also the first book using engraving.
Baldassare Estense was an Italian painter.
The Bible of Borso d'Este is a two-volume manuscript. The illuminated miniatures, work of Taddeo Crivelli and others, were executed between 1455 and 1461. The work is held in the Biblioteca Estense di Modena.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.
The Gallerie Estensi is a network of three museums and a library, bringing together the collective fruits of artistic production from Ferrara, Modena and Sassuolo in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. The galleries aim to preserve the historic heritage left by the influential House of Este, with a focus on relating their past to the local communities at each site.
The Pinacotecta Nazionale is an art gallery in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is located on the piano nobile of the Palazzo dei Diamanti, a work of Renaissance architecture by Biagio Rossetti, commissioned by Leonello d’Este in 1447. Not to be confused with the Civic Museum on the lower floor, which has hosted temporary exhibitions of contemporary art since 1992, the Pinacoteca houses a collection of paintings by the Ferrarese School dating from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries. It was founded in 1836 by the Municipality of Ferrara after Napoleon's widespread dissolution of churches threatened the protection of important public artworks. The gallery is formed as much around notable northern Italian painters as it is around the exquisite interior decoration of the palace itself, together with remnants of frescoes from local churches and later acquisitions from the Sacrati Strozzi collection.
The Estense Lapidary Museum is a lapidarium-museum in Modena, Italy, located around the interior quadrangle of the Palazzo dei Musei's ground floor. It is owned by the province of Modena and the Gallerie Estensi. As the first public museum to be commissioned by the Duke Francesco IV d'Este upon his re-entry into Modena in 1814, it stands as a symbol of the collaboration between church, state and nobility. It also marks a new direction for the city of Modena, one recognising its rich historical identity.
Marquis Giuseppe Campori was an Italian scholar, politician, historian and collector of Italian art.
The Palio of Ferrara is a competition among the 8 neighborhoods (contrade) of the town of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Four of these neighborhoods correspond to four wards located inside the medieval town fortifications. The remaining four correspond to external boroughs. The Palio is an historical reenactment based on 1259 celebrations for the return from Rome of Borso d'Este after receiving the duchy investiture from Pope Paul II. The celebrations were repeated regularly until around 1600. After a long interruption the tradition was briefly reenacted in 1933, stopped again during World War II and eventually restarted in 1967.
The Municipal Palace of Ferrara is located in Piazza del Municipio 2. It was the ducal residence of the Este family until the 16th century, when the court moved to the nearby Castello Estense. It is the seat of the municipality of Ferrara.
The Ducal Palace of Rivalta was a baroque palace in Rivalta, just south of Reggio Emilia, Itay. The palace and its park were inspired by the Palace of Versailles. Until 1796, it served as a residence of the dukes of Modena from the House of Este, after which it fell in disrepair. Today, only the southern wing remains.
The Genealogia dei principi d'Este is an illuminated manuscript on parchment bound as a codex and containing a genealogy of the House of Este. The manuscript has no title. The name by which it is now known is conventional.