The Morgan Library & Museum Tour

Hi friends, welcome back! As an avid reader and museum goer, The Morgan Library & Museum has been on my radar for quite some time. The library was the personal collection of financier John Pierpont Morgan and located off Madison Avenue between 36^th and 37^th Street. With his large fortune amassed from his dominance on Wall Street, Morgan began collecting rare manuscripts and prints beginning around 1890. As his collection grew, he hired Charles McKim from the firm McKim, Mead & White (who also designed the Boston Public Library and Penn Station) to construct a personal library adjacent to his residence. The building was constructed from 1902 to 1906 at a cost of $1.2 million (roughly $29m today) and contained a rotunda, study, library, and office. This beautiful library was crafted with Tennessee pink marble and considered McKim’s best work. The entrance off 36th Street is guarded by two lions sculpted by Edward Clark Potter. Subsequently, Potter was commissioned by the Stephen A. Schwartzman Library not too far away on Fifth Avenue and 42^st Street to design their famous lions.

Morgan died in 1913 and in 1924, J.P. Morgan Jr. gifted the library and an endowment to the public as requested by his father. Since then the complex and collection have grown considerably. In 1928 J.P. Morgan’s prior brownstone was demolished so they could build the Annex featuring an exhibition and reading space. This addition also moved the entrance to the museum from the original library entrance onto Madison Avenue. In 1988 the Brownstone where JP Morgan Jr. lived was added to the museum. This not so modest home was originally built in 1854 and includes forty-five rooms, twelve bathrooms, and twenty-two fireplaces. On the main floor one of the parlors was turned into the gift shop, and space on the upper level was converted into an exhibition room. The final addition was in 2006 when Renzo Piano was hired to add a welcome entrance, performance hall, Reading Room, and more storage space. There’s also a garden but that was under construction and should be opening sometime this spring.

This is a model of the complex as a whole.

The star of this museum is Morgan’s library and I was hoping to get pictures with minimal people in them. To achieve this goal, I strategically picked tickets for Daylight Savings Time in hopes people would sleep in and we’d have a shot at the museum to ourselves. I also looked at the floor plan ahead of time so I knew exactly where to go. Right after the doors opened at 10:30, Jon and I made a beeline to the back of the museum and had the library to ourselves for about five magical minutes. Once we got pictures from all angles, we sat down and enjoyed listening to the free audio guide. I don’t recall anyone wearing typical audioguide headphones, so I think you have to bring your own. If you want to visit the museum from home, you can browse all the audio guides here.

In this room there are approximately eleven thousand books, but the entire collection contains over one hundred thousand. The ones not displayed are in a vault in the Renzo Piano addition.

The Morgan Library & Museum contains three of the forty-eight original copies of the Gutenberg Bible still remaining. It was the first book printed on moveable type in the west and because of its importance, one of the copies is always on display here. There are also first editions of Copernicus and Galileo’s work. Pretty impressive collection!

Among the bookcases are two hidden staircases to get to the different levels. If you look closely they can be detected by the brass handles on some of the shelves. There is also a hidden book closet and book elevator to transport the books to the different levels. A very sophisticated design to match the one-of-a-kind collection. It reminded me a bit of Beauty and the Beast.

The ceiling was done by Harry Siddons Mowbray and was inspired by Renaissance art. It contains a mix of the zodiac signs paired with figures depicting arts and science, philosophers, painters, and other historical figures.

The tapestry, The Triumph of Avarice, once belonged to Henry VIII and was part of a collection that depicted the seven deadly sins. This is the only one that remains and depicts greed. The bust to the right of the fireplace is of Belle Greene, JP Morgan’s librarian.

The Stavelot Triptych on display depicts the story of Constantine’s mom, Helena, finding the True Cross and bringing it back to Constantinople.

The rotunda was the original entrance to the library and it’s quite the statement. The lunette above the library depicts scenes from Iliad and the Odyssey, above the front door is Medieval themed, and above J.P. Morgan’s study are scenes from the Renaissance. The artist completed the canvases in his studio and then installed them in the rotunda.

Harry Siddons Mowbray designed the dome ceiling after Raphaels’ Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican. It depicts famous authors, scholars, and figures from history.

I don’t have the complete ceiling picture from our time at the Vatican, but I have this one where you can see some similarities:

The next room we saw was Morgan’s personal study, perhaps his favorite color was red. After the Panic of 1907, Morgan famously held a meeting in here with the trust company presidents to devise a solution.

The portrait above the fireplace is of James Pierpont Morgan, but originally a picture of his father hung here and his portrait was hung in his brownstone next door. In 1967 it was donated to the museum by his grandson.

There’s a secret bookshelf to the left of the fireplace where if you push the shelf in, the bookshelf to the right slides over so that you can reach the hidden bookcase. When the library staff eventually discovered the shelves, they were empty, so it’s a mystery what Morgan hid here. Other safe measures include a vault to store his most prized items, burglar alarm, watchmen, and policemen patrolling.

In 1905 Piermont hired librarian Belle da costa Greene, a Princeton graduate, to help him acquire and maintain his vast collection. She met his nephew at the Princeton University Library and he recommended her for the job. When the library opened to the public, she became the first Director of the museum and she worked here until retirement. She had her own office next to the library but it currently houses ancient artifacts from Morgan’s collection. Starting in late October 2024 there will be an exhibition dedicated to her and her contributions to the collection.

In addition to the historic rooms, there are a few rotating exhibits. From February 23 through June 9, 2024 Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature is on display featuring the artist famous for the characters Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.

From January 26 through May 26, 2024 Seen Together: Acquisitions in Photography is on display.

We happened to catch the last day of Medieval Money, Merchants, and Morality.

Jon and I enjoyed visiting the Morgan Museum and Library, especially when we had the historic library to ourselves. I recommend bringing headphones for the audio guide and arriving right when it opens. This museum is relatively small and takes about 1-2 hours to tour. Tickets cost $25 for adults and it’s suggested to buy them online, but there can be availability at the door. On Tuesday & Sunday from 3-5pm you can access the historic rooms for free, and they also have Free Fridays from 5-7pm but an online reservation is required. I was able to get admission with my New York Public Library card. They have a program called Culture Pass that offers limited tickets for free access to museums and other cultural institutions throughout the city. I sure get good use out of my library card! Regardless of when you go or how you acquire your tickets, this is a great museum to add to your list!