About the Morgan Library Walk in New York
In the midst of the hustle and bustle of midtown Manhattan is an oasis dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and the appreciation of beauty: The Morgan Library & Museum. Originally the private library of Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), the legendary financier of the Gilded Age, the Morgan is now a complex of buildings that houses a unique collection of old master drawings, prints, and paintings; illuminated Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts; significant historic literary and music manuscripts; early printed books; and ancient near eastern seals. Some highlights in this remarkable collection include three Gutenberg Bibles, autograph music manuscripts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the only surviving manuscript of John Milton's Paradise Lost, and the largest collection of Rembrandt prints in this country. One of the few institutions in the United States that collectively presents examples of the highest artistic and literary achievements in Western culture, the Morgan is deeply rewardin
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In the midst of the hustle and bustle of midtown Manhattan is an oasis dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and the appreciation of beauty: The Morgan Library & Museum. Originally the private library of Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), the legendary financier of the Gilded Age, the Morgan is now a complex of buildings that houses a unique collection of old master drawings, prints, and paintings; illuminated Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts; significant historic literary and music manuscripts; early printed books; and ancient near eastern seals. Some highlights in this remarkable collection include three Gutenberg Bibles, autograph music manuscripts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the only surviving manuscript of John Milton's Paradise Lost, and the largest collection of Rembrandt prints in this country. One of the few institutions in the United States that collectively presents examples of the highest artistic and literary achievements in Western culture, the Morgan is deeply rewarding for the intellectually curious visitor.
Our walk through the Morgan will focus on different aspects of the permanent collection as well as the structure of the institution itself. As we move through the Museum, we will visit galleries that display selected objects from its collection, as well as acclaimed traveling exhibitions. In addition, we will discuss the changing face of the Morgan over its century-long history.
A centerpiece of the visit is Mr. Morgan's Library, where the banker's collection was originally housed. Constructed by Charles McKim of the famed architectural firm McKim, Mead & White during the first decade of the twentieth century, this edifice is at once elegant and authoritative. Though intimate in scale, its luxurious details and sophisticated design recall those of an Italian Renaissance palazzo and it is considered by many to be McKim's masterpiece.
Pierpont Morgan's voracious taste for collecting was passed onto his son, J. Pierpont Morgan, known as Jack, who realized his father's dream when he opened the Library to the public in 1924. The final and most transformative event in the Morgan's history occurred in 2006, when world-renowned architect Renzo Piano completed a major renovation and expansion of the institution's campus, providing it with a new, grand entrance on Madison Avenue that is commensurate with the Morgan's place among the premier museums of New York.
