The Library of the Abbey of San Giovanni in Parma was one of the additions to the complex made in 1477 when its entry into the congregation of Santa Giustina heralded a time of new splendour following a period of decline. Today it houses around 40,000 volumes with automated cataloguing and lending.
The room was magnificently frescoed in a single year (1574/5) by the Bolognese artists Giovanni Antonio Paganino and Ercole Pio. It is approximately 21m long, 13m wide and 6m high; divided into 3 naves, it has two rows of 5 Ionic columns which, with the perimeter walls, support the ceiling of 18 round vaults. Rather than follow a precise scheme or logical path, the vaults offer a sprawling and complex overview of human search for the truth with the bays reflecting various characteristics of wisdom. The creator of the iconographic cycle of the Library of San Giovanni was Abbot Stefano Cattaneo da Novara (Stephanus Cataneus a Novaria), aided in his work by Vitale da Verona, a fellow Benedictine monk.
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