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The facsimiles created by Franco Cosimo Panini

For many centuries, books were considered unique objects. They could be copied but were not exactly repeatable. Consequently, they represented an absolutely precious, costly possession and were guarded like a treasure. Mostly used in ecclesiastical spheres throughout the Middle Ages, books played an extremely important role in the Renaissance culture, especially in Italy and France, where they were splendid things, coveted by the new ruling class, first the nobles, then the bourgeoisie and merchants. The great noble families, such as the Visconti, the Sforza, the Medici, Montefeltro, Este, Gonzaga and Farnese created marvellous libraries, calling upon the best amanuenses and illuminators of those times to work from court to court.


THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOKS IN THE WORLD
The idea of collecting the most famous of this immense heritage in a single collection had been  an impossible utopia for centuries. But the enormous progress achieved with facsimile reproduction technology over the past few years now obtains results that were hitherto unthinkable: the creation of unabridged copies of manuscripts that are absolutely identical to the originals. Every book lover’s dream can now become reality: a collection of the most beautiful books in the world in an impossible Library.
 

THE IMPOSSIBLE LIBRARY
Deciding which books are entitled to become part of this Library is an arduous and, all things considered, a debatable task: everyone has his own “personal” impossible library in mind. Thus, Franco Cosimo Panini has taken up a truly particular challenge: create the impossible Library of the great Italian families by gathering together the more important masterpieces made for the dynasties that built the civilization of our country in that unrepeatable period of culture and art that only Italy had experienced: the Renaissance.

La pagina del Perugino
La pagina del Perugino

L'artista più illustre impegnato nella decorazione del libro d'Ore del Perugino è senza dubbio il Perugino.

la legatura
La legatura

La legatura del libro d'Ore del Perugino è un lavoro coevo di estrema complessità.

La vicenda del codice
Le vicende del codice

Dopo essere appartenuto agli inizi del XVI secolo alla famiglia bolognese del Perugino.