Francesco Marucelli (1 March 1625 – 29 July 1703) was an Italian abbot,

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

and bibliophile. His book collections form the core of the Biblioteca Marucelliana in Florence.

Biography

Born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

into a wealthy and noble family, Marucelli enrolled in 1643 to study civil and canon law at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

, where he befriended Gaudenzio Pazanino. By 1648, he had gained his doctorate. He then moved to Rome, prompted by his uncle Giuliano Marucelli, then under the patronage of cardinal

Girolamo Farnese Girolamo Farnese (1599–1668) was a Roman Catholic cardinal. Biography On 26 Apr 1639, was consecrated bishop by Giovanni Battista Scanaroli, titular Bishop of Sidon, with Tommaso Carafa, Bishop of Vulturara e Montecorvino, Bishop Emeritus of ...

, Francesco entered the papal courts in Rome. Upon the death of his uncle in 1656, he was appointed as absentee abbot for two monasteries in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

: San Lorenzo di Cropani and Santa Maria di Cavugliano di Tarsia. In Rome, he was a prolific patron of artists, including the Dutch

Dirck Helmbreker Dirck Helmbreker, Theodor Helmbreeker, or Teodoro Elembrech (1633–1696) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of Italianate landscapes. Biography According to Houbraken he lived from 1624 to 1694, but this has since been proven to be incorrect.