The Biblioteca Casanatense is a large historic library in Rome, Italy, named in honour of Cardinal Girolamo Casanate (1620–1700) whose private library is at its roots. History The library was established in 1701 by Antonin Cloche, the Master of the Dominicans, at their Convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome to house the library left to them by Casanate, containing about 25,000 volumes. Casanate also left an endowment of 80,000 scudi to provide for the administration of the trust and for the acquisition of new books but not for a building. This was erected using a previous inheritance of 1655 of the library of Giambattista Castellani, chief physician of Gregory XV, together with 12,000 scudi for building a suitable edifice. One of the notable 18th century bibliographers of the library was Giovanni Battista Audiffredi. According to Casanate's will, the new library should be accessible to the public six hours daily, apart from feast-days. In addition to the library staff he provided for a college (theologi casanatenses) of six Dominicans with a doctor's degree of different nationalities (Italian, French, Spanish, German, English, Polish). Aided by the resources of the library, they were to devote themselves to the defence and propagation of Catholic doctrine. Moreover, two professors were to lecture regularly on texts St Thomas Aquinas, particularly his Summa Theologica. In 1872, the library was nationalized, but the Dominicans were left in charge until 1884. It is now administered by the Ministry of Culture. The entrance to the Casanatense is located at Via di Sant'Ignazio, 52. Statue of Casanate To honour his friend, Cloche had a statue of Cardinal Casanate made by his favourite sculptor Pierre Le Gros the Younger. Upon completion in 1708, it was placed on top of the staircase leading up from Santa Maria sopra Minerva at the library's old entrance. The original concept was that Casanate should greet the visitor on his way out of the library, ready to accompany him for a while to discuss what he learned with the help of his books. As it soon became evident that more capacity was needed, the building was enlarged and the statue moved into its now much larger reading room by 1721. There, Casanate is framed by a noble wooden structure specifically constructed for that purpose by the Dominicans' architect Antonio Maria Borione and surmounted by the figure of St. Thomas Aquinas by the sculptor Bernardino Cametti.