Sforzesco Castle Art Library, Special art library in Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy
The Biblioteca d'Arte del Castello Sforzesco is an art library housed in Milan's Castello Sforzesco. It holds more than 100,000 volumes and 1,500 periodicals from around the world, 330 of them current, in the fields of art history and criticism, applied arts, graphics, design, fashion and museology. Among its holdings are the Luca Beltrami fund, with 1,173 volumes and 491 pamphlets, and the Vespasiano Bignami fund in 29 bound volumes.
The library was established in the late 1800s as a specialized collection for civic museum curators. Its holdings expanded after World War II to include European and non-European art materials.
The library holds the Fondo Vespasiano Bignami, donated by critic Carlo Bozzi and acquired in the early 1960s: notes, caricatures and conference texts by the Scapigliatura painter and critic, bound in 29 volumes dated 1853-1928. The Carteggio Emilio Treves keeps about 400 letters, including ones from Verga, Pirandello, Pascoli and D'Annunzio.
The library occupies rooms inside the Castello Sforzesco, so visitors reach it through the castle courtyards rather than from a street entrance. The Beltrami collection has no separate catalogue: its records are filed in the library's general catalogue, and the manuscript papers were photocopied and rehoused in acid-free envelopes. The Bignami collection, by contrast, still lacks a printed inventory, though electronic cataloguing of the names it mentions has begun.
The collection maintains around 330 active periodicals from across the globe, tracking contemporary artistic trends and discussions. This makes it a valuable resource for anyone following current developments in the art world.
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