The Biblioteca Reale
The Biblioteca Reale was established during the reign of Carlo Alberto of Savoy (r. 1831-1849). The House of Savoy, one of the Europe’s oldest dynasties, had long collected the rare manuscripts, illuminated books, and exceptional book bindings that make up some of the library’s 200,000 volumes today. Carlo Alberto not only ordered the construction of the Library to house the collection, but he also acquired a group of more than 2,000 drawings, including important examples by Michelangelo, Raphael, Poussin, Rembrandt, and Tiepolo. The Leonardo drawings, however, are undeniably the jewels of the prestigious collection. This nucleus of Leonardo drawings was enhanced in 1893, when a Russian collector donated the Codex on the Flight of Birds to King Umberto I of Savoy.
“Italians consider the Biblioteca Reale’s Leonardo drawings among their most important cultural patrimony, yet access to the drawings in the library is extremely limited,” says Jeannine O'Grody, Curator of European Arts at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
HOURS:
Tuesday—Saturday
10am—5pm
Sundays
12pm—5pm
Closed Major Holidays
ADDRESS:
2000 Eighth Avenue North
Birmingham, Alabama 35203
T: 205.254.2565
F: 205.254.2714