Which library in Florence did Michelangelo design?

Michelangelo designed Florence’s Laurentian Library, also called the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana.

The library was commissioned in 1523 under the Medici pope Clement VII, and construction began in 1525. It was built beside the Basilica of San Lorenzo to house the Medici family’s important collection of manuscripts and books. The collection includes more than 11,000 manuscripts and thousands of early printed works.

Michelangelo left Florence in 1534, before the project was complete. Later architects, including Bartolomeo Ammannati, Tribolo, and Giorgio Vasari, continued the work using his plans, drawings, and instructions. The library opened to scholars in 1571.

Its most celebrated architectural features are the reading room and the dramatic vestibule, or ricetto. The vestibule’s unusual recessed columns, blind windows, and flowing staircase are landmarks of Mannerist design. The name can cause confusion: “Medici Library” describes its historical collection and patronage, but Laurentian Library is the standard name of the building Michelangelo designed.