If you’ve been following along, you know we’re in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, searching for Petrarch. We’ve been following a docent around, scurrying past masterpiece after masterpiece. I had no idea this museum was so big. Big, and packed with amazing examples of man’s greatest creations. But so far, no Petrarch. Maybe he’s in the library – the Biblioteca Ambrosiana…
When the docent finally reached his destination, he came to a stop, pointed to a large doorway and said, “I libri sono nella biblioteca.” (“Books are in the library.”) Then he disappeared.
We were on our own, somewhere deep in the bowels of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. No one was around. It was eerily quiet. The doorway in front of us was closed with heavy embroidered curtains. They looked like they could have been on loan from Sforza Castle.
Inside the Biblioteca Ambrosiana
We cracked open the curtains and peeked inside. We peered into a room that was dimly lit – almost dark. If some wise guy would have come up behind us at that moment and said “Boo!” we would have jumped three feet into the air.
We stepped inside. As our eyes adjusted, the most amazing room started to come into view. It was large, with walls that went up forty or fifty feet. Every inch of wall space was covered with shelves full of books. We were in one of the main rooms of the library – the Biblioteca Ambrosiana. This is where pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus were on display in a special exhibit.
The story goes that Cardinal Borromeo, the guy who founded this place way back in 1609, helped design this room himself. He used every inch of wall space for storing books, leaving maximum floor space for tables where people could sit and read them. Books occupied the space where windows would have been in a normal building, so they designed extra-large windows near the top of those high walls.
Codex Atlanticus
A walkway followed the perimeter of the room. Pages from the Codex Atlanticus were mounted in special display stands bordering the walkway. Each display stand had its own light source. My guess is that they were special lights that wouldn’t damage the old documents. The effect was eerie.
The Codex Atlanticus is the largest collection of Leonardo’s personal notes. It consists of twelve volumes spanning 40 years, (1478 to 1519). The pages are filled with drawings of all kinds of inventions and ideas, many with Leonardo’s notes. Even though his notes are in italian, you can tell that the writing goes from right to left instead of from left to right. For example…
.siht ekil ti etorw eh fi sA
Wild, eh? No one knows why he chose to write backwards. But that’s Leonardo for you. He always keeps us guessing.
But What about Petrarch?
At some point I remembered that the whole point of being here was to find Petrarch’s copy of Virgil. A docent stood at the other end of the room, which appeared to be the entrance. (Apparently we had entered through the back door). We went over to her – a lady this time – and I began my usual routine…
Mio – “Buon giorno. Cerco il libro di Francesco Petrarca di Vergilio.”
(“Hi. I’m looking for Petrarch’s book of Virgil.”)
Docente – “Lavoro appena qui come un volontario. Non so che niente. Spiacente.”
(“I just work here as a volunteer. I don’t know anything about this stuff.
Sorry.”)
Well, that was that. I noticed some books on display that weren’t part of the exhibit. Hey, could this be it? I went and looked them over. Nope. No Petrarch.
When we were finished looking at Leonardo’s sketches and notes, we left the Biblioteca Ambrosiana and went outside. The fresh air was nice. It had stopped raining. Time to get back to Bellagio.
Even though I didn’t get to see Petrarch’s book, could I really complain? Because of his book, we discovered Pinacoteca Ambrosiana – a spectacular museum.
From Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, we took a taxi to the train station. We arrived with time to spare before our departure time. We sat in the big, mausoleum-like station and people-watched until it was time to board. Then we found a yellow box and stamped our tickets. Can’t forget to do that, eh?
The train ride back to Varenna took an hour. We walked from the train station down to the dock and caught the next boat back to Bellagio. By the time we reached our hotel, it was almost dark and we were almost out of gas.
To be continued…
Just for fun…
Lavorare – To work. (Io lavoro – I work)
Spiacente – Sorry
Mi amico – My friend
Non so che niente. – I don’t know anything. (This one can come in handy).
