Biblioteca Marciana
The Biblioteca Marciana building, designed by Jacopo Sansovino. The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana (English: National Library of St Mark's ) is a library and Renaissance building in Venice, northern Italy; it is one of the earliest surviving public manuscript depositories in the country, holding one of the greatest classical texts collections in the world. The library is named after St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice. It is not to be confused with the State Archive of the Republic of Venice, which is housed in a different part of the city. [1] Contents 1 History 2 Some manuscripts 3 References 4 External links History The library was provided with a building designed by Jacopo Sansovino. The first sixteen arcaded bays of his design were constructed during 1537 to 1553, with work on frescoes and other decorations continuing until 1560. Sansovino died in 1570, but in 1588, Vincenzo Scamozzi undertook the construction of the additional five bay...