Pope Clement VII de Medici, commissioned Michelangelo to design a library to house the collection of manuscripts and codices collected by several generations of the Medici.
The Laurentian Library was built in the cloister adjacent to the church of San Lorenzo between 1524 and 1559 .
Michelangelo designed the library, and ultimately turned the project over to his successors Giorgio Vasari, and Bartolomeo Ammanati,
but Michelangelo monitored the project for the almost 30 yaers of its construction, finalized in 1568.
The Library is considered a perfect example of the melding of Renaissance with Mannerist style architecture,
which was seen in the staircase in the previous image.