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17-620: The library was established in 1701 by Antonin Cloche , the Master of the Dominicans , at their Convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome to house the library left to them by Casanate, containing about 25,000 volumes. Casanate also left an endowment of 80,000 scudi to provide for the administration of the trust and for the acquisition of new books but not for a building. This was erected using

34-612: A go-between. Following Casanate's death, Le Gros was immediately commissioned to create the cardinal's tomb in the Lateran Basilica (1700–1703) and subsequently his honorary statue in the Biblioteca Casanatense (1706–1708). When Pope Clement XI offered the many niches in Saint Peter's to the religious orders to erect a statue to their founders, Cloche jumped at the opportunity and commissioned

51-474: A library for the substantial collection of books he was to leave to the Dominicans. The Biblioteca Casanatense , attached to the Convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome, was inaugurated in 1701. Already in 1717 it transpired that the library was too small, so Cloche had an extension built from 1719 but did not live to see its completion in 1721. As master, he was a proponent of popular preaching along

68-402: A previous inheritance of 1655 of the library of Giambattista Castellani, chief physician of Gregory XV , together with 12,000 scudi for building a suitable edifice. One of the notable 18th century bibliographers of the library was Giovanni Battista Audiffredi . According to Casanate's will, the new library should be accessible to the public six hours daily, apart from feast-days. In addition to

85-474: Is a total of 2036 (books printed before 1500). There is also a large collection of Roman governmental proclamations ( bandi , editti ) from 1500 to 1870, and comedies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 41°53′55″N 12°28′46″E  /  41.8987°N 12.4794°E  / 41.8987; 12.4794 Antonin Cloche Antonin Cloche (1628–1720) was the Master of

102-894: Is the Superior General of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominicans . The Master of the Order of Preachers is ex officio Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome , Italy , and of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas in Manila , Philippines . Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III is the Master of the Order, as of his 2019 election at

119-518: The Statue of Saint Dominic from Le Gros (1702–1706). No other order saw the necessity to hurry, which made Saint Dominic the very first and for decades the only monumental statue of a founder in Saint Peter's. This article about a French Catholic cleric is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Master of the Order of Preachers The Master of the Order of Preachers

136-555: The Dominicans' architect Antonio Maria Borione and surmounted by the figure of St. Thomas Aquinas by the sculptor Bernardino Cametti . What remains of the statue's original setting are mostly two putti above the niche in the staircase. As this is now outside the library's limits, it is only accessible via the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Today the Library's collection contains approximately 400,000 volumes, about 6,000 manuscripts and 2,200 incunabula . An inscription records

153-632: The Order of Preachers from 1686 to 1720. Antonin Cloche was from a rich French family. Cloche entered the Dominican Order in the Province of Toulouse . Under the masterships of Juan Tomás de Rocaberti and Antonio de Monroy Cloche served as the master's envoy to the Kingdom of France . Cloche was unanimously elected master at the Dominican chapter held in 1686 at Rome after

170-673: The death of the previous master de Monroy. As the new Master General, he revised the rules and constitutions of the nuns of the Order of S. Dominic. In 1696, Cloche started the process for the canonisation of Pope Pius V and soon had a magnificent sarcophagus made for him in the Sistine Chapel in Santa Maria Maggiore by the sculptor Pierre Le Gros the Younger . Shortly before the death of his friend Cardinal Girolamo Casanate in 1700, Cloche set out to build

187-424: The formal permission of Clement XI to collect books by heretical authors. The Casanatense still preserves 1125 manuscript volumes of opinions, reports, and statements ( voti, relazioni, posizioni ) concerning matters treated in the various Congregations to which Casanate belonged. His curial duties did not prevent him from taking an interest in letters and the sciences. He was on friendly terms and corresponded with

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204-641: The learned men of his day. Among those whom he encouraged most was Lorenzo Alessandro Zaccagni , whom he induced to publish a collection of materials for the ancient history of the Greek and Latin Churches, Collectanea monumentorum veterum Ecclesiæ græcæ et latinæ Amongst the library's possessions are 64 Greek codices (15 of them the gift of Casanate), and 230 Hebrew texts (rolls and books), among which are 5 Samaritan codices. It holds medieval manuscripts, including biblical manuscripts (e.g. Minuscule 395 ). There

221-532: The library and only accessible through the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva). Cloche was eager to promote the status of the Dominicans by means of art. His sculptor of choice was Le Gros who was a rising star in 1697-98 when he produced the Sarcophagus for Pope Pius V . It was probably Cloche's secretary , the painter Frère Baptiste Monnoyer , a friend of Le Gros' from student days in Paris, who acted as

238-445: The library staff he provided for a college ( theologi casanatenses ) of six Dominicans with a doctor's degree of different nationalities (Italian, French, Spanish, German, English, Polish). Aided by the resources of the library, they were to devote themselves to the defence and propagation of Catholic doctrine. Moreover, two professors were to lecture regularly on texts St Thomas Aquinas , particularly his Summa Theologica . In 1872,

255-555: The library was nationalized, but the Dominicans were left in charge until 1884. It is now administered by the Ministry of Culture . The entrance to the Casanatense is located at Via di Sant'Ignazio, 52. To honour his friend, Cloche had a statue of Cardinal Casanate made by his favourite sculptor Pierre Le Gros the Younger . Upon completion in 1708, it was placed on top of the staircase leading up from Santa Maria sopra Minerva at

272-465: The library's old entrance. The original concept was that Casanate should greet the visitor on his way out of the library, ready to accompany him for a while to discuss what he learned with the help of his books. As it soon became evident that more capacity was needed, the building was enlarged and the statue moved into its now much larger reading room by 1721. There, Casanate is framed by a noble wooden structure specifically constructed for that purpose by

289-678: The lines of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament . Jansenism and Gallicanism continued spreading in the French order during his mastership. He lived as a great lord, hosting many ecclesiastical dignitaries at his country house in San Pastore. He died in 1720 aged 92. In his honour, in 1721 his relief portrait by Bernardino Cametti was placed in old entrance to the Biblioteca Casanatense (now no longer part of

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