Lions and Lioness
There may be a few too many animals and libraries in this title, but rest assured—all the libraries, all the Querini family members, and all the essential animals are accounted for.
When we speak of lions—especially winged ones—we think of Venice. But when we speak of lionesses, we think of Brescia. As the Italian writer Giosuè Carducci once wrote in praise of Brescia’s courage during the ten days of the Revolution in 1849:
“Brescia the strong, Brescia the iron, Brescia, lioness of Italy, drunk with enemy blood.”
Two libraries were founded by members of the Querini family: the Querini Stampalia Library, established in 1869 in Venice by Count Giovanni Querini Stampalia, and the Queriniana Library, founded in Brescia in 1747 by Cardinal Angelo Maria Querini. Both are extraordinary cultural treasures.
The Querini Stampalia Foundation
In 1869, Count Giovanni Maria Stampalia bequeathed his movable and immovable property, rights, shares, and assets to a scientific foundation under the name of the Querini Foundation. His vision was for the Library, Gallery, Medal Collection, and the art objects in his palace to become public property.
He specifically requested spaces to be set up for scholars:
“…On all those days and hours when public libraries are closed, and especially in the evening for the convenience of scholars. They will not be placed in the Library itself but in a nearby room—beautiful, comfortable, equipped with stoves and carpets for winter. There will be rooms for evening gatherings of national and foreign scholars and scientists…”
True to his wishes, the library remains open on days when other Venetian libraries are closed.
The Querini Stampalia Foundation comprises museum spaces, functioning as a house-museum with eighteenth-century furnishings and an extraordinary art collection. It also hosts temporary exhibitions, along with a garden and ground floor redesigned in the 1950s by Carlo Scarpa, with further interventions by Valeriano Pastor and Mario Botta, as well as featuring the Intesa Sanpaolo collection.
Who was Angelo Maria Querini?
Angelo Maria was born in 1680 in the parish of Santa Maria Formosa in Venice, son of Cecilia Giustiniani and Paolo Querini. He studied with the Jesuits in Brescia, the city of which he would later become bishop and became a Benedictine monk. At that time, Brescia had already been part of the Venetian Republic for several centuries, although it was a province somewhat distant from the political heart of the city.
Angelo Maria Querini was a man of vast culture who traveled far beyond the borders of the Venetian domains to the Low Countries, England, Holland, France, Germany also maintaining relationships with the Protestant world. In 1723 he was Archbishop of Corfu; in 1727 he was appointed Bishop of Brescia and in 1730 became librarian of the Vatican Library.
Conflicts with the Pope. Between Rome and Brescia
One of the reasons Angelo Maria Querini sought to establish the Queriniana Library was the discovery that some of the volumes he had donated to the Vatican in 1731—upon his appointment as librarian—had not been properly appreciated. As was customary at the time for duplicate or damaged books, some were even sold.
Upon learning this, Querini requested the return of approximately 2,000 volumes, justifying his request with the intention of creating a permanent library for the bishops who would succeed him. Negotiations with the Holy See continued until he secured the return of the books—but only after paying a substantial sum. In essence, he had to repurchase the very volumes he had previously donated, and ironically, it might have cost him less to simply buy new ones.
This means that the bishop had to pay for the return of volumes he had previously donated and perhaps it would have cost him less to buy them new.
Querini was evidently displeased by the Vatican’s practice of selling donated books, but this was not his only point of contention with Pope Benedict XIV. Their strained relationship stemmed from deeper, more complex issues. The Pope himself made his disapproval clear, stating: “We have neither art nor part in him; nor has he ever received or will receive any commission from Us; being a vain man full of himself and ill-disposed towards Us and towards the Holy See.”
In modern terms, the Pope had expressed his opinion quite directly. One major source of their disagreement was Querini’s financial investment in restoring the Catholic Cathedral of St. Hedwig in Berlin, which the Pope viewed as diverting funds that would have otherwise been used for the restoration of Roman churches.
Yet Angelo Maria Querini continued his construction work on building in Brescia. The Queriniana Library is a prestigious building that arose around a large architectural program to complete religious center of Brescia. The project revolved around new cathedral and episcopal palace located next to Broletto Palace which was seat of Venetian governor. Reasons of decorum pushed for reorganization of spaces adapting them to current taste and personality of new prelate enhancing his prestige. His patronage, at times, appeared excessive, as he frequently affixed commemorative markers on buildings he restored.
For instance, in the courtyard of the Palazzo Venezia—the residence of Venetian ambassadors in Rome, and one of Querini’s many assignments—he had seven commemorative plaques installed, making it nearly impossible to forget his contributions. Inside the Queriniana Library, monochrome artworks by Antonio Callegari narrate Querini’s life, from his birth and religious education to his extensive travels.
The new course of the Querini Stampalia Library
The “new course of the Querini Stampalia Library” refers to the recent transformation and revitalization of the library within the Querini Stampalia Foundation in Venice. Under the leadership of Cristiana Collu, the foundation has embraced a renewed cultural vision, intertwining historical preservation with contemporary engagement
In Campo Santa Maria Formosa and Campiello Querini, artist Davide Rivalta’s monumental bronze sculptures of lions—two males and two females—will inhabit the space. Seated and watchful, these silent sentinels redefine perceptions of public space, offering a reassuring presence rather than a threatening one. Their presence invites discovery, participation, and engagement with art in everyday life.
Meanwhile, designer Martí Guixé’s Q Spot—a social seating structure shaped like a “Q” and inspired by the Foundation’s logo—transforms a graphic symbol into a functional and relational space. Positioned at the entrance of the Foundation in Campo Santa Maria Formosa, it provides a place to sit, read, and reflect, fostering shared habits and encouraging a cultural routine akin to daily exercise—simple yet intensive, essential not just for well-being but for engaging with the world.
Visiting libraries in Venice
Discovering Venice through history archives and libraries. Discovering the city through its libraries or archives is a different experience, if you are interested in knowing which libraries (public or private) we can discover together please contact me.
Venice, May 2025
FIORELLA PAGOTTO –
I am an art historian and writer, author of essays on art history and biographies of artists. I also deal with the history of architecture and the history of architectural restoration. I have been a guide to the city of Venice and the Venetian villas since 2013, when I passed the Veneto Region exam.
@ Copyright holder 2024 All rights reserved. No part of this publication and pictures can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanicanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. For citations, please include the link to the blog
Questo il link alla versione italiana
