The Biblioteca Riccardiana is an Italian public library under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, located inside the Palazzo Medici Riccardi at 10 Via de’ Ginori in Florence, in the neighborhood comprising the Mercato Centrale and the Basilica di San Lorenzo.

Replacing the family of the Tuscan grand dukes as owners of a building as rich in history as Palazzo Medici was a sort of consecration for the Riccardi, who came from humble origins and had only recently attained their noble status.

At a time when the Riccardi's patrimony was inferior only to that of the Medici, Francesco di Cosimo (1648–1719) decided to invest the formidable sum of 115,000 “scudi” to restore, enlarge, and decorate the palace that his family had just bought.

Those collections consisted of medallions, bronzes, gems, cameos, ivories, and works of goldsmithery as well as the library that Francesco's great-uncle Riccardo Romolo (1558–1612) had started putting together.

[2] The occasion was an event that involved the whole city, that is, the lavish celebrations for the wedding between Ferdinando de’ Medici (the grand duke's eldest son) and Violante Beatrice of Bavaria.

[4] The frescos by Giordano follow the program designed by Senator Alessandro Segni (scholar, secretary to the Accademia della Crusca, admired man of letters and tutor to Francesco).

In comparison with the fresco in the hall, this work is less complex and with a small number of figures, i.e., the personification of Divinity at the top, a naked maiden (the Truth), Theology, the Mind between the Science and the Philosophy at the bottom.

[6] The underlying meaning is as follows: understanding (which the Riccardi family promotes) allows human beings to raise above their natural state, thus ascending towards the light of truth.

For the hall where he would give his parties, instead, Francesco had a series of wardrobes come from Rome and placed next to mirrors painted by Anton Domenico Gabbiani, Bartolomeo Bimbi, and Pandolfo Reschi.

Allusions to classical culture can also be seen in the ceiling corners, whose four painted cameos hint at ancient works in semiprecious stones with portraits of famous philosophers and poets such as Cicero, Virgil, Homer, and Plato.

In view of the auction, a catalogue (titled Inventario e stima della Libreria Riccardi) was published in 1810 and circulated both in Italy and in the main cities north of the Alps.

The two Riccardi librarians – Francesco Fontani and Luigi Rigoli – were put in charge of the newly acquired book collection; they were to serve for free and make the library accessible to the public.

The Riccardiana currently houses 4,460 bound manuscripts and 5,620 unbound folios, which include collections once owned by such scholars as Giovanni Lami, Giovan Battista Fagiuoli, Lorenzo Mehus, and Mario Pieri.

The manuscript collection shows how the Biblioteca Riccardiana has managed to bring together a large number of extraordinary private libraries (mostly Florentine and Tuscan ones dating from the 15th and the 16th centuries) that the Riccardi family bought over a long period of time.

In doing so, the Riccardi purchased significant portions of book collections that originally belonged to such famous figures as Ficino, Landino, Bracciolini, Crinito, Fonzio, Nicodemo Francesco Tranchedini, and Benedetto Varchi or important families like the Pandolfini, Minerbetti, Nesi, Adimari, and Medici.

[11] Meanwhile, Francesco, in addition to receiving the former Capponi library, increased his own family's collection by purchasing many books, mostly during his grand tour and while living in Rome from 1699 to 1705.

The sketches and the illustrations still preserved in the library are the remnants of a patrimony that was originally a lot larger and richer, being part of that collection of famous paintings that made the Riccardi family understandably proud.

No less impressive is the collection of theatrical texts, which features charming stage sketches, including some that were specially made for the Grand Duke Ferdinand III (MS Ricc.

2444), script notes for actors, comedy plots and other such extremely rare materials that help us shed light on staging techniques, theater production, and a number of related matters.

In addition to manuscripts, the Riccardi also collected precious incunables, such as Manuel Chrysoloras’ Erotemata (maybe the first book ever to be printed in Greek), and famous editions, including Savonarola's Bible (Ed.