The Piccolomini Library in Siena Cathedral

Adorned on the outside with a magnificent marble entrance, the Libreria Piccolomini possesses on the inside a jewel-like cycle of frescoes painted by Pinturicchio. For the first time this fresco cycle – of remarkable pictorial quality – is fully illustrated in all in inexhaustible narrative and chromatic richness. Mirabilia Italiæ is a unique series. It owes its existence to an innovative and ambitious project: an atlas of the great monuments of Italy that will display them in all their details, from the best known to the least. This series represents a completely new way of documenting art.

Mirabilia Italiæ provides a guided tour of each monument, fully and accurately explained. Each atlas contains hundreds of colour photographs, arranged in a precise topographical sequence and accompanied by diagrams showing the exact location of each detail. The atlas is complemented by a volume of texts edited by the premier scholars in the field, consisting of critical essays and descriptive notes. Essays examine the monument from the art-historical point of view, and record the alterations it has undergone over time. Descriptive notes analyse the content and significance of the images. Extensive cross-references link the essays and notes to the images, facilitating consultation of the work. The General Editor of Mirabilia Italiæ is Salvatore Settis, Director of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa.

Text in English and Italian.