Ludovico Antonio, a learned Italian scholar and antiquary, was born at Vignola, in the duchy of Modena, on the 21st of October 1672. He received his elementary education at the college of Modena, where he signalized himself by his application and the rapidity of his progress in the ancient languages and in literature. He then entered the university, where he passed through the ordinary curriculum, applying himself with equal ardour to the study of philosophy, jurisprudence, and theology. Father Bacchini, the learned librarian of the Duke of Modena, inspired him with a taste for historical researches, and taught him to read manuscripts; and so much did he profit by his advantages, that at the age of twenty he was considered a prodigy of talent and erudition. In 1694 he was called to Milan by Count Carlo Borromeo, who had appointed him a keeper of the Ambrosian Library. But before quitting Modena he wished to take his degree of Doctor in utroque jure; and the theses which he maintained on this occasion were universally applauded. Having established himself at Milan, and taken sacred orders, Muratori entered upon a course of study and research calculated to justify the hopes which his talents had inspired; and having made a selection from the numerous manuscripts intrusted to his care, he published them, with dissertations intended to throw light upon various disputed points in archaeology. The reputation he thus acquired was great, and the Duke of Modena, regretting that he had parted with a man who seemed destined to attain such distinction, offered him, as an inducement to return, the situation of conservator of the public archives of the duchy, together with that of keeper of his library, vacant by the resignation of Father Bacchini. Muratori returned in 1700 to Modena, which he never quitted, except to visit the public collections of the principal cities of Italy. In 1734 Apostolo Zeno offered him the chair of belles-lettres in the university of Padua; but Muratori declined accepting a situation which would have withdrawn him from his favourite pursuits. The publication of a number of valuable tracts on the history of Italy during the middle ages, besides various learned dissertations, added every year to his growing reputation; and this indefatigable writer also found leisure to cultivate polite literature, nay, even to take part in the theological discussions which then occupied so much of the public attention. Indeed, all the journals and all the literary collections of the time were enriched with some of his productions. The freedom with which he communicated the result of his researches, had put him in communication with the most distinguished scholars of Italy, France, and Germany, who had recourse to him on all subjects of difficulty. Literary societies vied with one another in sending him diplomas of admission; and many who had attained eminence in different departments of literature paid him the homage of inscribing to him their works. A rumour got afloat that he was heterodox, which induced him to write to Benedict XIV. repudiating the charge. His holiness assured him, however, that he had found nothing reprehensible in his writings. The health of Muratori, enfeebled by excessive labour, at length declined; and after languishing for some time, he died on the 23d of January 1750, at the age of seventy-seven. He was buried with much pomp in the church of Santa Maria di Pomposa, whence his remains were in the year 1774 transported to that of St Augustin.

Of the works of Muratori, sixty-four in number, a detailed list will be found in the Biblioteca Modenese of Tiraboschi (tom. iii., pp. 329-346). The principal are,—Anecdota ex Ambrosianis Bibliothecis, Milan, 1697, 1698; Padua, 1713, 2 vols., folio; Vita e Rime di Mogyi, Milan, 1700; Della Perfetta Pittura Italiana, Modena, 1706, folio, 4to; Anecdota Graeca, Padua, 1719, folio; De Ingenuorum Medicorum in Scholasticis Regniis Parisiensibus, 1714, folio; Delle Antichità Estensi ed Italiane, Modena, 1717, 2 vols., folio; Elogia Antiquarum Scriptores praecipui, ab anno 500 ad 1500, Milan, 1723-1751, 29 vols., folio; Delle forze dell' Intendimento Umano, Venice, 1733, and 1745, folio; De Paradiso Regnique Coelestis gloria liber, Verona, 1738, 4to; Antiquitatis Italicae medii aevi, Milan, 1738-1743, 6 vols., folio; Novus Thesaurus Veterum Inscriptionum, Milan, 1739-1742, 6 vols., folio; De Superstitione vitanda adversus Votum Sanguinarium pro immaculata Deiparae conceptione, Venice, 1740 and 1742, 4to; Cristianissimo felice nelle missioni del Purgatorio, Venice, 1743, 4to; Anno di Italia dall' era volare sino all' anno 1748, Venice, 1744-1749, 12 vols., 4to; Liturgia Romana Vetus tria Sacramentaria complectens, Venice, 1748, 2 vols., folio; Della Publica Felicità oggetto dei buoni principi, Lucca, 1749; Lives of Segneri, Ligonius, Orsi, Tasconi, and others; Dissertations, in various collections; Letters, Venice, 1783, 2 vols., preceded by a Life of Muratori from the pen of Lazzari, professor of eloquence in the Academy of Pesaro. The works of Muratori were published at Arezzo, 36 vols. 4to, 1769-80, and at Venice, 48 vols. 8vo, 1790-1810.