The halls of knowledge

These rooms were under the supervision of the Jesuits until the suppression of the religious order in 1773. Here the large public library began to take shape and was called after the long-lived Empress. The building also housed the Museo dell’Antichità, with its prestigious collections belonging to the Gonzaga family, before it was transferred in the halls of Palazzo Ducale. The connection to the nearby Accademia, where today the Bibiena Theatre still stands, is very strong. Nearby is also the State Archives building, erected in 1883. When the university was moved to Pavia by the Austrians, this building continued to embody the desire to create a cultural centre, a real fortress where the Library and the Classical Lyceum would continue to live on and flourish until this day. Here we can take a glimpse of the central part of the Library, the so called Prima Sala Teresiana.

The manuscript section of the library, made up of 1,381 volumes (among which 535 are Medieval) is outstanding. The codes of the religious orders of the whole district were moved here, following the suppression of various orders during the Habsurg Empire and the Napoleonic period. Also, the section houses 385 precious codes from the San Benedetto in Polirone Abbey, a monastery founded and patronized by the Canossa (Tedaldo di Canossa, 1007). The scriptorium of Polirone was a place of creation already at the time, and production here continued for centuries despite the periods of crisis.Not much is left of the collection of codices belonging to the Gonzaga family, though the ones kept here are remarkable; also interesting are the works which once belonged to other noble families from Mantua. In addition, the collection of the library also includes a series of letters from various periods and some important works, such as the autograph manuscript of Confessioni di un Italiano, by Ippolito Nievo (Padova 1831, Tyrrhenian Sea 1861).

Vindizio Nodari Pesenti is one of the most representative artists of the period that goes from the end of nineteenth century to the early twentieth century in Mantua. He was a pupil of his uncle Domenico Pesenti, also a painter. The long career of Pesenti reflects the influences of academicism, realism, divisionism and Italian post-Impressionism.  

The study room, where manuscripts and rare books are kept, is illuminated by a large window that also gives light to the corridor. The restoration of the rooms was carried out with particular attention to the furniture, which, in addition to being functional for consultation, is designed so as to not create a contrast with the older pieces still in place. The Teresian Library, a public library since 1881, today has been granted museum status. 

The Teresian Library also houses a vast collection of historical findings, many of paramount importance. Among the personal archives it is worth mentioning the one belonging to the diplomat and traveller Giuseppe Acerbi (Castel Goffredo 1773, Castel Goffredo 1846), which includes Egyptian artefacts, and the collection of the researcher and art historian Ercolano Marani (Castellucchio 1914, Mantova 1994). The collection also includes items dating to the Italian Risorgimento; legal documents; literary works composed in dialect; the fund of Francesco and Ettore Campogalliani – Francesco was a great puppeteer who lived between the nineteenth and twentieth century, while Ettore was a composer and one of the best singing teachers of his time. In addition to medical sciences, also natural sciences occupy an important position in the collection thanks to the fund of the naturalist Enrico Paglia (Mantua 1834, Mantua 1889).

This room on the second floor of the Teresian library, towards the end of the corridor on the left, was very probably used for religious purposes, as attested by the frescoes that decorate it. Perhaps this was the so-called Oratorio delle Scuole inferiori The frescoes depicting scenes from the life of Christ, have been attributed by Stefano L'Occaso, although it is not possible to prove this with certainty, to the late Baroque painter Siro Baroni, who lived and worked in Mantua, and whose works can be admired in the churches of Santa Barbara and Sant'Orsola.

The so-called Sala delle vedute is on the ground floor, at the end of the great entrance hall. Opened after restoration in 2014, it has become a conference room; it was maybe the first reading room of the popular library. The frescoes decorating it depict two couples of young girls carrying books, and four dancers. Also, and this is where the name of the hall comes from, on the wall are ten scenes of the city of Mantua, with its monuments and buildings appearing in the distance. The style of the decoration is decidedly Liberty, and the delicate combination of different colours conveys a sense of lightness.