Canonici, Matteo Luigi 1767-1844

Matteo Luigi Canonici (1727-1805) became a Jesuit in 1743. His natural bent was towards history and antiquities, and when Accademico of the College of St. Catherine at Parma he formed a first collection of medals and books, but in 1768, when the Jesuit Order was suppressed in the kingdom of Naples and Duchy of Parma, it was confiscated. Next he collected pictures, but this scandalized his superiors, and he was forced to get rid of them, obtaining in exchange a museum of medals. In 1773 a further suppression of the Order took place, and Canonici retired to Venice, where he set himself to study history, and collected coins, statuary, printed books and manuscripts, chiefly during autumn journeys to Rome, Naples, Florence or elsewhere.

From the guide to the Oriental manuscripts, mainly Hebrew, collected by Matteo Luigi Canonici, 14th-16th century, (University of Oxford, Department of Oriental Collections, Bodleian Library)