Francesco Bianchini (1662-1729) was a Veronese scholar, Roman by adoption. 

His name is little known today, but he was renowned and respected among his most illustrious contemporaries, including Maffei, Muratori, Leibniz, Cassini and Newton, who promoted his admission to the Royal Society.

Bianchini was an encyclopaedic intellectual and an eclectic figure: a deacon and canon, but also an acute man of science, a diplomat, a cosmopolitan thinker, a multifaceted cultivator of a thousand interests including music, anatomy, architecture, numismatics and optics. His greatest passions were astronomy and ancient history: one led him to carry out numerous observations and experiments, culminating in the construction of a splendid sundial in Rome. The other is evidenced by archaeological excavations, museum projects and the attempt to compose a Universal History in which the development of all mankind would be recounted.

As stipulated in his testament, many autograph texts, manuscripts and printed volumes from his personal library, as well as other precious objects (including the iconic bust of Homer that adorns the monumental hall) were bequeathed to the Chapter Library, to which Bianchini was very attached and which he considered among the most important in the world.

This thematic tour - which will introduce the temporary exhibition that will be on display in the Capitolare starting in February - is meant to be a tribute and an opportunity to get to know a complex and fascinating figure, at the crossroads of different centuries and scientific approaches, and his contributions to various disciplines, often of great relevance for the development of the very sciences that inspired his brilliant genius.

Tickets

Full price: €15

Concessions (VeronaCard, ICOM members, FAI members, Coin cardholders): €13

Reduced price for children (11-14 years): €10

Free admission for children up to 10 years of age.

The ticket includes independent entrance to the Capitolare and its exhibition spaces, which will not be the subject of the themed visit. It is advisable to enter before the visit itself.

Tickets available on www.bibliotecacapitolare.it

Info and booking:

info@bibliotecacapitolare.it

331 5946961