The atrium of the Mai library, one of Bergamo’s architectural jewels, designed by architect Vincenzo Scamozzi, is getting a new look. An extraordinary maintenance intervention, promoted by the Municipality of Bergamo, which will start on Friday 21 June in the historic building in Piazza Vecchia, in the Upper Town, and which will continue until Saturday 29 June. The restoration of the walls with marble and decorative stucco, of the floors and of the large entrance door involves careful recovery and cleaning of the original materials.
Closure will be necessary to set up scaffolding. “But – assures the director Cristiana Iommi – it will be the only phase in which the library will not be accessible. We will try to create as little inconvenience as possible for users, access to the library will always be guaranteed during the restoration phases except for rare exceptions. Also during the suspension of in-person services, online services will be active. Those who have already submitted requests for volumes for research reasons will be able to access the service, but in the Casa Suardi office which will not have any limitations. Once the works are completed, our idea is to involve the atrium even more in the life of Mai, organizing events, small conferences and concerts”. The project, which was agreed with the Superintendence, does not include any demolition or architectural reconstruction intervention, but involves restoration and recovery operations aimed at maintaining the conservative conditions of materials and elements. The Scamozzian atrium, which takes its name from the Vicenza architect Vincenzo Scamozzi, designer of Palazzo Nuovo, where the Mai library stands, is full of history.
Inside there are works in memory of local history, with busts of historical figures, such as the one dedicated to the leader Bartolomeo Colleoni, 20 plaster medallions, commemorative plaques and two funerary monuments that remember the brothers Agosti and Corsino, fighters in the battle of Lepanto. All elements on which targeted restoration work will be carried out. However, the recovery of the small garden at the back of the atrium still remains on the list of works to be carried out. Fundraising has been active for some years, in particular by the Inner Wheel association, linked to Rotary.
