Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

Rome Reborn: The Vatican Libary and Renaissance Culture

Rome Reborn: The Vatican Library and Renaissance Culture presented nearly 200 of the Vatican Library's most precious manuscripts, books, and cartographic treasures — many of which played a key role in the humanist recovery of the classical heritage of Greece and Rome. The loan, valued at over $80 million, included The Urbino Bible, Henry VIII's love letters to Anne Boleyn, Bernini's alternate design for the Piazza di San Peitro, and Galileo's observations on sun spots to name just a few. The exhibition presented the untold story of the Vatican Library as the intellectual driving force behind the emergence of Rome as a political and scholarly superpower during the Renaissance. The temporary exhibit was on display in the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.

1717, in collaboration with Michael Graves Architect, was selected to provide turnkey design services for semi‐permanent exhibit cases for the Jefferson Building's newly‐renovated exhibition halls (6,000 SF) and to design Rome Reborn: The Vatican Library & Renaissance Culture, the first in a series of temporary exhibitions planned to celebrate great libraries of the world. The project also included the design and production of the collateral graphics, including logos, press kits, banners, brochures, bus cards, and posters.