The Europeans Can Really Do a Library.

I frequently get emails from this online art source, Zatista, and I'm always impressed by the diversity of their offerings.


Today the email featured, among other pieces, this striking image of a rococo library.  I had to find out more.

Bibliotecha di Admont, by Massimo Listri, photograph, 40"H x 48"W

Thinking it must be Italian, I googled "Bibliotecha di Admont" and came up with the Itialian wikipedia page describing the history of this stunning library (and providing the images below.)  It is actually located in Austria in a Benedictine abbey.  (Evidently, I was misled by the Italian name of the photographer.)  Located at the foot of the mountains in Gesause National Park, the name derives from the latin "ad montes", or "at the mountains." 

Admont Abbey Exterior Building Shot

The library was completed in 1776, while the abbey itself was founded in 1074. Despite a massive fire which damaged most of the Abbey in 1865, the library remained untouched.  It was somewhat neglected and fell into disrepair during WWII with a Nazi occupation of the monastery, but underwent a huge EU-funded restoration recently that restored it to its former glory.  It now holds approximately 180,000 works including 1400 manuscripts and 530 incunabula.

The library's ceiling is comprised of seven domes with trompe l'oeil frescoes by Bartolomeo Altomonte depicting allegorical representations of art and science.

Low-res shot of library from the official site

Here is a less atmospheric daytime view of the library.  You can see a little more detail, but it doesn't grab me the way the more darker, more moody photo did.