Art – Library Collections
The Library holds and provides access to a collection of more than 130,000 items relating to the history of art, music and performing arts. The nature of these disciplines makes the collections particularly diverse: in addition to books and serials, users can consult scores, audiovisual materials, and graphic media.
The collections are continuously curated and expanded in response to teaching and research needs, through both acquisitions and donations—including entire private collections. The Library also ensures the acquisition and availability of exam texts for courses offered by the Department of Cultural and Environmental Heritage.
The documentary collections are partly housed in two public reading rooms, which reflect the Library’s main areas of focus, and partly in the onsite storage areas:
- 2nd floor: Music and Performing Arts section. 32 seats, 8 viewing stations for audiovisual material, 3 workstations to access the University Library Catalogue and Digital Library
- 4th floor: Art section. 72 seats and 6 workstations to access the University Library Catalogue and Digital Library
Books in the reading rooms are arranged on open-access shelves and may be consulted on site or borrowed. Loans can be recorded independently using the self-service checkout stations. Items held in storage may be requested from Library staff—no reservation is required.
The shelving system is organised by discipline, type and subject. Signage throughout the rooms helps users navigate the sections.
Art Section
The art history collection includes reference works (encyclopaedias, repertories, dictionaries, manuals) and sources, monographs on various historical periods and artistic movements, and on individual artists, museum and exhibition catalogues. The section devoted to local art history—Lombard and Milanese—is particularly noteworthy.
The collection also includes areas dedicated to specific artistic techniques, with especially rich sections on photography and new media, alongside materials on conservation, collecting, and museology.
A carefully curated selection of books on Asian art, particularly Japanese, is also available.
Music and Performing Arts Section
The music and performing arts collections are organised into three major subsections: music, theatre and film.
The music section includes a rich array of reference works such as encyclopaedias, bibliographic repertories and specialised dictionaries, as well as scores and monographs on music history, biographies of individual composers, and organology. The section on opera is particularly well developed and also contains numerous concert programmes, alongside a substantial ethnomusicology collection.
The theatre section features a selection of works on the history of theatre in Italy and abroad, as well as monographs on playwrights, directors and actors, and drama texts. There are also volumes dedicated to dance, circus arts and all forms of performance.
The film section is highly interdisciplinary, reflecting the most current research trends in the field—such as the relationship between music and film, and multimedia studies.
Given the nature of these disciplines, the Library’s collection of DVDs, CDs and vinyl records is particularly extensive.
Serials
The Library holds more than 400 titles of specialised journals and serials: current series are available in the reading rooms, while discontinued subscriptions are kept in storage. The latest issue of each journal is displayed near the Library entrance.
Many print journals are now available in electronic format and can be accessed directly through Minerva.
Book and Archival Collections
Over time, the Library’s holdings have been enriched by donated book and archival collections from renowned scholars in the fields of art and music. These book collections are stored in the Library’s storage areas and may be consulted on request at the information desk. Archival collections can be accessed by appointment.
