Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Research institute in Florence, Italy
Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies is a research facility in Fiesole dedicated to Italian Renaissance scholarship housed within a historic villa. The center maintains a library of approximately 140,000 volumes and a photograph collection of about 250,000 images documenting art and cultural history from that period.
The villa began as a seventeenth-century farmhouse before Bernard Berenson and Mary Whitall Pearsall Smith purchased it in 1907 and transformed it into a Renaissance villa. Under their stewardship, the estate developed into a major center for Renaissance scholarship and art collection.
The villa holds an important collection of Italian musical manuscripts and historical documents that span centuries of artistic creation. Visitors can trace the development of musical and artistic traditions through these handwritten works.
The center offers research opportunities for scholars studying Italian Renaissance across various academic disciplines. Visitors can explore the facilities during operating hours and access the collections following standard research protocols.
The gardens were designed by Cecil Pinsent in 1909 featuring terraced levels, cobblestone pathways, and tall cypress trees that separate different garden sections. This garden design creates a contemplative setting that supports focused research and study.
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