The Bibliothèque nationale de France is the French National Library, which is located in Paris. This is intended to be a repository of all that was published in France. By 1896, the library had become the largest
repository of books in the world, but it has since been surpassed by other
libraries for that title. In a sumptuous seventeenth century decor, temporary
exhibitions presented in the Galerie Mazarine, the former library of the
Cardinal famous for its painted ceiling decorated with mythological themes by
Romanelli and the Galerie Mansart which housed the art collections of Cardinal
Mazarin. These thematic exhibitions express the encyclopaedic nature of the
Bibliothèque Nationale de France and appeal to the resources of the different
departments, completed by pieces from national and foreign collections.