"L'incanto dei libri: la biblioteca nel tempo"

Since antiquity, the library has held a strong appeal on both the individual and the collective imaginary. A place dedicated to the preservation and the transmission of learning, as the etymology of its name suggests, it has always conveyed the sense of the preciousness of its content – from engraved tablets to illuminated manuscripts, from printed books to maps – also through the majesty and splendour of its architecture. A brief journey through some of the most beautiful libraries in the world, ancient and modern, is here proposed in order to concisely retrace their history and discover some of their treasures. This will also be an occasion to ponder on the evolution of the idea of the library through time, an evolution to which both real and imaginary libraries contribute by urging a reflection on history and memory, on the relationship between art and the world, on the variegated image of life books incessantly convey.