The Art History Library is part of the Documentation Center for History, Art and Image (DOCSAI) in Genoa. It is today the most important public Art History Library in the region.
It was based at Palazzo Rosso in 1908, together with the Office of Fine Arts and History of the Municipality of Genoa, as a support for the scientific activity of local museums.
Over the years it has changed and it was finally moved to Palazzo Rosso annexes in 2005. On that occasion, with the expansion of the exhibition route of the “Strada Nuova” Museums, all the municipality bibliographic and iconographic documentation was collected in one single location.
The reading room, approximately 7.50 x 6 metres, is topped with an exceptional wooden coffered ceiling from the mid-15th century, decorated with interwoven, geometric and calligraphic motifs.
The library preserves specialized collections in Genoese, Ligurian and Italian Art History from XI to XIX century, as well as volumes dedicated to Ligurian archeology and museology.
The Rare section contains volumes published between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, including many history of art sources, artistic guides of Genoa and other Italian cities, literary and historical works.
This bibliographic heritage includes more than 62.000 publications and over 500 periodicals, 70 of them are still in progress. It is possible to consult the catalogs directly in the library ore use the online catalog of the Genoa libraries.
Services provided:
- reading and consulting all the modern or old publications
- specialized and bibliographic consultation
- borrowing books is not allowed