Italian
The column “Art, Culture, History and Archaeology” curated by Carlo Franchini continues. A journey to discover the beauties, curiosities, and charm of Italy and the world, both past and present.
Texts by Ilaria Ferrari, archivist and museum operator at the Capitolare Library Foundation
Video by Carlo Franchini
The Capitolare Library of Verona, guardian of a millenary history and an invaluable heritage, is the oldest library in the world to have maintained a continuity of activity and location.
To trace back its origins, it is necessary to go back more than fifteen hundred years and delve into the ancient scriptorium of the city’s cathedral. Here, with goose feather and parchment in hand, tireless scribes copied books for the adjacent school of priests of which they themselves were a part. The Capitolare owes its name to the Chapter of the canons, the college of cathedral priests who have promoted and preserved its activities over the centuries and who still own it today.
The first tangible sign of its existence can be traced back to a small manuscript of Christian content, still preserved in Capitolare. The scribe, after weeks hunched over the parchments, finished his work revealing not only his identity, but also the day, the month, and the year in which he was: it was the first of August in the year 517 and his name was Ursicino, a reader of the church of Verona.
Over the centuries, Capitolare gradually transformed from a center of book production to a place of preservation and study. Distinguished intellectuals crossed its threshold, including Dante and Petrarch, and still today scholars from around the world bring its rooms to life.
Today, in the Capitolare Library, there are preserved over 1200 manuscripts, unique in the world. In addition to the Ursicino code, there is the oldest known copy of De Civitate Dei by Augustine, created at the beginning of the 5th century, when the Saint was still alive; also preserved is one of the oldest fully intact purple Gospel books, dating back to the 5th-6th century, in which the Gospels are written in silver and gold ink on purple-dyed parchment. Another luxurious manuscript is the so-called Sacramentary of Saint Wolfgang, a liturgical book embellished with purple, gold, and silver, produced in the late 10th century in Regensburg as a gift for the bishop of Verona. Also stored are important palimpsests, meaning manuscripts whose text has been erased and the parchment reused; among these are the Institutes of Gaius, the only surviving text of classical Roman jurisprudence that has come down to us without later reworkings. Among the most precious treasures is the so-called Veronese Riddle, the oldest written testimony of the Italian vernacular language. Illuminated manuscripts populate its shelves, with bright colors and shining gold leaf, giving life to true works of art: among these are the impressive 14th-century cathedral choir books.
In addition to manuscripts, the Capitular Library also houses numerous ancient printed texts and contemporary publications from a wide range of fields. Additionally, there is a rich archive of parchments and paper documents, as well as an art collection featuring ancient paintings, sculptures, and archaeological objects.
The Capitolare has survived epidemics, requisitions, floods, and even bombings over the centuries, but its activity has not been exhausted in the past, it continues in the present. In fact, in 2019 the Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona Foundation was established with the aim of protecting, renewing, and transmitting this extraordinary cultural heritage.
The museum tour of the Capitolare, discovering its history and treasures, is accessible to visitors independently or through guided tours and events. Educational paths are available for schools of all levels.
For all information and opening hours, please visit the website www.bibliotecacapitolare.it.
