Old Library

building, Venice, Italy

Also known as: National Marcian Library

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July 1, 2026

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The Old Library in Venice, also known as the National Marcian Library or the Library of St. Mark, was designed by Jacopo Sansovino. Construction began in 1537, and it was completed in 1591. The library was built to house a significant collection of humanist texts and manuscripts, notably the collection bequeathed by Bessarion, the Latin patriarch of Constantinople, in 1468.12

The library's facade is characterized by a 21-bay arcade, with shops on the ground floor. A grand, barrel-vaulted staircase leads to the reading rooms on the upper floor. The main reading room is situated to benefit from ample natural light through seven windows. The interior is richly decorated with paintings and stucco by renowned Venetian artists of the time. The architecture features a Doric arcade and frieze on the ground floor, topped by Ionic columns and a substantial entablature, creating a sense of grandeur and horizontality. The library is considered a major research library and holds treasures such as Marco Polo's will and a manuscript in Petrarch's hand.12

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Venice
The Old Library
The Campanile stands close to the 21 bays of the Old Library (1529, also called the National Marcian Library or the Library of St. Mark), on the western side of the piazzetta. The library was designed by Sansovino to house a great collection…
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The Campanile stands close to the 21 bays of the Old Library (1529, also called the National Marcian Library or the Library of St. Mark), on the western side of the piazzetta. The library was designed by Sansovino to house a great collection…
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humanism
The 15th century
…the core of the notable Library of St. Mark. This infusion of Byzantine scholarship had a profound effect on Italian humanism. By making Greek texts and commentaries available to Western students, and by acquainting them with Byzantine methods of criticism and interpretation, the teachers from Constantinople enabled Italian humanists to…
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…the core of the notable Library of St. Mark. This infusion of Byzantine scholarship had a profound effect on Italian humanism. By making Greek texts and commentaries available to Western students, and by acquainting them with Byzantine methods of criticism and interpretation, the teachers from Constantinople enabled Italian humanists to…
Read More

Jacopo Sansovino
Mark’s (also called the Old Library), one of the major architectural works of the 16th century, was begun the same year. The small but richly decorated Loggetta, also begun in the mid-1530s, was the first of the three to be completed (1542).
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Mark’s (also called the Old Library), one of the major architectural works of the 16th century, was begun the same year. The small but richly decorated Loggetta, also begun in the mid-1530s, was the first of the three to be completed (1542).
Read More