What more sublime setting than the historic cradle of the National Library of France to welcome the greatest minds of the Renaissance? This architectural jewel nestled in the former palace of Cardinal Mazarin summons the figures of Petrarch and Erasmus for a flamboyant lesson in humanism in five acts, with all the teachings of Cicero in the background and the terrible stories of Dante, the divine poet and founding father of the Italian language. Through the selection of more than 200 relics inherited mainly from the Quattrocento, this precious exhibition analyzes the conditions of this return to ancient models, questions the circulation of texts of the period while returning to the debates sparked by this new relation to the book or to knowledge. If the humanist fever spreads quickly, the universal genius rests in one and the same place: a library. Between the rare manuscripts, the most exquisite drawings, delicate prints and sparkling medals, the BnF manages to place this private space at the center of a common culture and to restore the artistic, scientific and intellectual effervescence which reigned throughout the Europe at that time.