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Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527-1596), Two Seated Barbarian Captives, Pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white gouache, over black chalk, 10-7/8 x 15-9/16", Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1910; I, 37.

Cesare Nebbia (ca. 1536-1614), St. Paul on Malta, Pen and brown ink, brown wash, over black chalk, 7-1/2 x 15-3/8", The Joseph F. McCrindle Collection, The Morgan Library & Museum; 2009.221, Photography: Graham Haber, 2009.

Circle of Baldassare Peruzzi, Moses Striking Water From the Rock, 1520-40, Pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white gouache or tempera, on brown prepared paper 10-1/4 x 15-11/16", Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1910; IV, 19.

Taddeo Zuccaro (1529-1566), The Foundation of Orbetello, Pen and brown ink, brown wash, over black chalk; incised for, transfer; squared in black chalk, 10-3/8 x 15-5/16", Gift of Janos Scholz; 1973.28.

Polidoro da Caravaggio (ca. 1495-ca. 1543), Prisoner Brought Before a Judge (Condemnation of Perillus?), Pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white gouache, over black chalk, on light brown paper, 6-1/2 x 9-1/8," Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1909; I, 20.

Illuminated by Giulio Clovio (1498-1578), The Crucifixion, Moses and the Brazen Serpent, Farnese Hours, Italy, Rome, 1546, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1903; MS M.69, (fols.102v–103r).

Raphael (1483-1520), Male Figure Symbolizing an Earthquake, Metalpoint, heightened with white, on gray prepared paper, 4-1⁄4" diameter, Gift of Janos Scholz; 1977.45, Photography: Graham Haber, 2009.

Perino del Vaga (1500 or 1501-1547), Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, Pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white gouache, over black chalk, 8-3/8" diameter, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1910; I, 37.

Jacopo Bertoia (1544-ca. 1573), Joseph in Prison Interpreting the Dreams of Pharaoh’s Butler and Baker (Genesis 40:1-23), Pen and brown ink, with brown wash, over black chalk; squared in pen and brown ink, 9-11/16 x 8-11/16", Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1910; III, 141A Photography: Graham Haber, 2009.

Annibale Carracci (1560-1609), Eroded Riverbank with Trees and Roots, Pen and brown ink, 15-13/16 x11-1/16", Purchased in 1972; 1972.6.

Antonio Gentili (1519-1609), Farnese Hours (front cover), Italy, Rome, ca. 1589, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1903; MS M.69.

The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Avenue
at 36th Street
212-685-0008
New York
Rome After Raphael
January 22-May 9, 2010

In the early 1500s, Rome’s majesty was a distant memory: its marble temples and palaces had been ransacked; its population was a fraction of what it had been in antiquity. Yet, over the course of the next hundred years, the Eternal City would experience an amazing rebirth, as a series of popes rebuilt and revitalized Rome and its population doubled. At the center of this metamorphosis was an unprecedented influx of artistic talent and creative exchange.

It is this remarkable period in art history that is the subject of a new exhibition, Rome After Raphael, featuring more than 80 works selected almost exclusively from the Morgan’s exceptional collection of Italian drawings, the exhibition brings to light the intense artistic activity in Rome from the Renaissance to the beginning of the Baroque period, approximately from 1500 to 1600.

The exhibition is the first in New York to focus solely on Roman Renaissance and Mannerist drawings, beginning with Raphael and ending with the dawn of a new era, the Baroque, as seen in the art of Annibale Carracci. It includes striking examples by Raphael and Michelangelo as well as works by artists associated with the dominant stylistic traditions established by these two iconic figures.

Among the prominent artists represented are: Baldassare Peruzzi, Polidoro da Caravaggio, Giulio Romano, Perino del Vaga, Parmigianino, Daniele da Volterra, Francesco Salviati, Pirro Ligorio, Pellegrino Tibaldi, Taddeo Zuccaro, Girolamo Muziano, Cesare Nebbia, Federico Zuccaro, Raffaellino da Reggio, and Giuseppe Cesari, called Il Cavaliere d’Arpino.

The exhibition also features Giulio Clovio’s sumptuous Farnese hours, one of the greatest illuminated manuscripts, as well as the Codex Mellon — an architectural treatise on key Roman sites and projects, including Raphael’s design for St. Peter’s — and a magnificent gilt binding of the period. Also on view is a Raphael workshop painting from the Morgan depicting the Holy Family, which has recently undergone a technical examination.

“The quality and importance of the Morgan’s collection of sixteenth-century Italian drawings has long been recognized,” remarked Morgan director William M. Griswold. “Although individual sheets have appeared in major exhibitions in Europe and the United States, the Morgan has never before brought together so many outstanding works from this period and place in one show. Seen together for the first time, the drawings convey the opulence and artistic diversity of this pivotal period.”

It was during the reign of Pope Julius II, elected in 1503, that Rome embarked on a century-long program of renewal and restoration. By the time Pope Clement VIII died in 1605, the overarching political and artistic ambitions of popes, cardinals, and foreign dignitaries had given rise to one of the richest periods in art history, transforming Rome into the unrivaled cultural capital of Europe.

Numerous drawings in the exhibition are related to Roman projects and commissions, including elaborate schemes for fresco decorations for city palaces, rural villas, and funerary chapels as well as altarpieces, tapestry designs, and views of recently discovered antiquities. The exhibition also opens a window into the artistic sensibility and lavish patronage of the period, from Julius II — patron of both Michelangelo and Raphael and arguably the most culturally sophisticated of the popes — to his successor Leo X and the “Gran Cardinale” Alessandro Farnese and his nephew Odoardo. Cardinal Ippolito d’Este and the Medici also generated luxurious commissions as they competed to create their own legacies in chapels, palaces, and villas.

Through their sheer quality and novelty, the works of Raphael and Michelangelo in the Vatican established a tradition that resonated throughout the history of Western art. The exhibition brings to the fore the central artistic dialectic of the century: the rivalry between the legacies of Raphael, whose work epitomizes elegant restraint and clear narrative style, and that of Michelangelo, characterized by high drama and muscular nudes.

Raphael
Arriving in Rome in 1508, Raphael found success as court artist to popes Julius II della Rovere and Leo X de’ Medici. The Morgan’s holdings by the artist trace his development from his early pre-Roman period, represented by the fresco design Cardinal Piccolomini Presents Eleanor of Portugal to Her Betrothed, Emperor Frederick III and the cartoon related to the predella panel depicting •Christ’s Agony in the Garden•, to his metalpoint drawing Male Figure Symbolizing an Earthquake— a study of ca. 1515 for one of the tapestries Raphael designed for the Sistine Chapel.

Raphael’s Followers
Heavily employed by a succession of popes and secular patrons, Raphael developed a large workshop that included artists such as Polidoro da Caravaggio, Perino del Vaga, and Giulio Romano, all magnificently represented in the Morgan’s collection of drawings. After Raphael’s premature death in 1520, these artists developed their own highly successful careers. Polidoro was one of the city’s most prolific facade decorators, an aspect of his career uniquely illustrated by the Morgan’s study of a Prisoner Brought Before a Judge, a scene once painted on a Roman house. Perino’s independent career included a commission from Cardinal Alessandro Farnese for the design of rock-crystal plaques, which today still comprise part of the treasury of St. Peter’s Basilica. The Morgan’s two extraordinary designs for this commission, Christ Healing the Lame at the Pool of Bethesda and the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, are on view in the exhibition. One of Raphael’s most successful pupils (and later court artist to the Gonzaga in Mantua), Giulio Romano is represented by an early lunette design and by the vigorous St. Jerome and St. Augustine. The show also includes the Codex Mellon, one of the earliest and most important volumes of Renaissance antiquarian drawings relating to contemporary architectural projects. Probably drafted ca. 1513 by an architect from the circle of the great Renaissance master Donato Bramante, the sketchbook records plans for the new basilica of St. Peter’s as well as those relating to Bramante’s Palazzo Caprini, also known as Raphael’s house.

Michelangelo
One of the great figures of the Renaissance whose fame has rarely been eclipsed, Michelangelo was among the forces that shaped the style usually called Mannerism. He had been summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II in 1508 to design the pope’s tomb for St. Peter’s, was also employed on the decoration of the Sistine ceiling and altar wall, and worked for the papacy in Rome for the last thirty years of his long and fruitful career. The Morgan’s Annunciation to the Virgin of ca. 1547 and a series of four sketches of David Slaying Goliath superbly demonstrate the artist’s consummate skill as a designer of dramatic compositions and draftsman of the human anatomy.

Michelangelo’s Followers
Unlike Raphael, Michelangelo did not keep a large workshop, although he did have a number of associates, artist friends, and followers. Among them was Daniele da Volterra, whose Kneeling Figure of ca. 1550 — a study for a fresco in the church of Santissima Trinità dei Monti — is a rare example of his delicate, precise drawing style. A drawing attributed to Giulio Clovio, that is a reprise of Michelangelo’s renowned composition The Dream of Human Life (Il Sogno) of the early 1530s reflects the fame and influence of the great master’s highly refined and innovative presentation drawings. The show also includes the Farnese Hours, once the most famous illuminated manuscript, lavishly illustrated by Clovio for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Pellegrino Tibaldi’s heavily draped Seated Barbarian Prisoners, a further superb example of the enduring influence of Michelangelo’s figure style and draftsmanship, is also on display.

Parmigianino
Supremely gifted as a painter and draftsman, Parmigianino came to Rome in 1524 seeking papal patronage but fled, as did so many of his contemporaries, when the troops of Charles V invaded the city in 1527 during the Sack of Rome. A group of five drawings from this short period are shown, including a stunning red chalk design for a print of the philosopher Diogenes, a lyrical Girl Seated on the Ground that illustrates the artist’s penchant for domestic scenes, and a moving, pen-and-ink Pieta freely inspired by Michelangelo’s famous marble group in St. Peter’s.

Antiquity
As the city was being rebuilt and reconceived under the direction of the popes, archaeological finds were commonplace, triggering a sixteenth-century fashion for antiquity that spread throughout Europe. Marble sculptures representing river gods, excavated during the 1510s and immediately put on display at the Vatican Palace, are recorded in Enea Vico’s two spectacular, scrupulously detailed drawings of the early 1540s. Rome’s illustrious antiquarian past informed much artistic production as illustrated by the jewellike album on precious vellum titled The Ruins of Rome. This amusing juxtaposition of somewhat fanciful reconstructions of ancient monuments with their ruined 1570s appearance is an intriguing document of the Renaissance mind-set, bringing to life the vivid interest in reconstructing the antique.

Late Mannerism
and the Counter-Reformation
The last third of the sixteenth century saw the predominance of a highly decorative and technically masterful style generally known as Late Mannerism. This is exceptionally well represented in the Morgan collection, with outstanding examples by Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro and their followers Girolamo Muziano, Jacopo Bertoia, and Cesare Nebbia. The weightless grace of their style can be seen in Taddeo’s St. John the Baptist Preaching and The Foundation of Orbetello, the ltter a study for decoration of the Palazzo Farnese. Among the myriad themes that define the period are the need of the Roman Catholic Church to defend its authority against the rising threat of Protestantism. The Renaissance popes’ lavish spending had led them to encourage the sale of indulgences — two are documented in the exhibition — a practice heavily criticized by Martin Luther. Eventually, the Catholic Church recognized the need for reforms and convened the Council of Trent, resulting in a movement known as the Counter-Reformation, the consequences of which became apparent in artistic production toward the end of the sixteenth century. Palestrina’s mass for Pope Marcellus, the published score and recording of which are featured in the exhibition, places counter-reformatory emphasis on an easily comprehensible declamatory text.

Annibale Carracci and the Beginning of the Baroque
Several artists of the last decade of the sixteenth century facilitated the artistic reforms brought about by Annibale Carracci, his brother Agostino, and his cousin Ludovico. Giuseppe Cesari, called Il Cavaliere d’Arpino, is represented by the lively figure study of a Child Walking, Looking Over Its Shoulder and the striking Portrait of a Lady, both from the late 1580s. Both he and Cristofano Roncalli restricted the purely decorative Mannerist aspects of their work and reassessed High Renaissance models. Annibale Carracci himself paved the way for the Baroque, achieving a synthesis of Raphael’s elegance and Michelangelo’s drama and vigorous muscularity. Harkening back to Raphael, Annibale revived the practice of studying from the live model, as is amply obvious in his luminous Flying Putto of the late 1590s, which exhibits an astonishing command of the figure rendered in space. In addition, a new emphasis on an idealized yet naturalistic depiction of landscape is apparent in his magnificent Eroded Riverbank with Trees and Roots.

Rome After Raphael is organized by Rhoda Eitel-Porter, Charles W. Engelhard Curator and Department Head of Drawings and Prints at The Morgan Library & Museum.

Taddeo Zuccaro (1529-1566), St. John the Baptist Preaching, Pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white gouache, on blue paper, 13-1/4 x 9-5/16", Gift of Janos Scholz; 1973.26.

Annibale Carracci (1560-1609), Flying Putto, Black chalk, stumped, 11-5/8 x 7-1/8", Purchased on the Fellows Fund; 1975.3, Photography: Graham Haber, 2009.

Enea Vico (1523-1567), River God Nile after the Antique, Pen and brown ink, over traces of black chalk, 7-1/16 x 12-1/16", Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1910; IV, 50.

Federico Zuccaro (1542 or 43-1609), Head and Shoulders of Two Boys and Separate Studies of a Right and Left Arm, Black and red chalk, 5-9/16 x 8-1/8", Gift of Janos Scholz; 1974.24, Photography by Schecter Lee, 23 24.

Holy Family at Work, Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, Netherlands, Utrecht, ca. 1440, Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963; MS .917, page 149.

The Dying Adam Dispatching Seth to Paradise, Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, Netherlands, Utrecht, ca. 1440, Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963; MS M.917, page 75.

Adoration of the Magi, Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, Netherlands, Utrecht, ca. 1440, Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund, with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963; MS, M.917, page 237.

Singing Angels, Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, Netherlands, Utrecht, ca. 1440, Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene,Fund with the assistance of the Fellows, 1970; MS M.945, fol. 11r.

St. Vincent, Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, Netherlands, Utrecht, ca. 1440, Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund, with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963; MS M.917, page 268.

The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Avenue
at 36th Street
212-685-0008
New York
Demons and Devotion:
The Hours of Catherine of Cleves
January 22-May 2, 2010

The title of the exhibition derives from the dramatic juxtaposition of numerous demonic creatures "lurking" within the pages of a book that is otherwise filled with devotional prayers. Catherine, an important duchess involved in an epic dynastic political battle for much of her life, hoped to use prayer to avoid eternal damnation to the realm of the demons so vividly portrayed. The exhibition is supplemented with illuminated works by both predecessors and contemporaries of the book's anonymous artist, known to art historians as "the Master of Catherine of Cleves."

The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, a 15th-century Dutch manuscript is among the most beautiful and sophisticated illuminated works ever created. Titled Demons and Devotion: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, the show includes nearly a hundred individual pages from the lavishly painted manuscript, which has been disbound for the exhibition.

"The Morgan is recognized internationally for its superb collection of illuminated manuscripts, and the Hours of Catherine of Cleves is indisputably one of the greatest," said William M. Griswold, director of the Morgan. "Its pages are an extraordinary visual treat, amazing in their detail and stunning in their painterly beauty."

Around 1440, Catherine, duchess of Guelders and countess of Zutphen, commissioned an illustrated book with devotions that she could pray throughout the day. Textually rich, in addition to the traditional Hours of the Virgin and Office of the Dead, it contains unusual prayers for the Hours of every day of the week, complemented with an appropriate votive Mass. The book also features an unusually rich suite of 57 Suffrages, or petitions to individual saints.

The manuscript is equally rich visually: it contains 157 (originally 168) miniatures. They reveal colorful landscapes and detailed domestic interiors. For example, in the miniature of the Holy Family at Work, Joseph planes a board and the Virgin Mary weaves while the infant Jesus takes his first steps in a walker. Throughout the miniatures are meticulously depicted buildings, textiles, furniture, jewelry, and even fish — painted over silver foil. Many miniatures comprise long, elaborate cycles of iconographic and theological complexity. One such cycle includes eight miniatures about the legend of the True Cross, including rare illustrations of Adam on His Deathbed Dispatching his Son Seth to Paradise, Seth Planting a Branch from the Tree of Mercy in the Mouth of the Dead Adam, and, in the concluding scene, Miracles at the Pool of Bethesda.

The Hours of Catherine of Cleves is also famous for its innovative borders, no two of which are alike. Some depict such everyday activities as milking cows, churning butter, and baking bread. Still others are filled with butterflies, mussels, coins, fishnets, bird traps, flowers, vegetables, fruits, and even pretzels.

The Master of Catherine of Cleves is considered the finest and most original illuminator of the northern Netherlands. His is a balanced, almost classic style, with equal attention granted to naturalistic representation and overall harmony of composition and color. His interest in the realistic representation of light and textures derives from such predecessors as Jan Van Eyck and Robert Campin. His attraction to genre and everyday objects — far ahead of its time — was to flower in Dutch still-life painting during the seventeenth century.

Catherine of Cleves is known for two things: the magnificent illuminated manuscript that bears her name and the huge political battle she waged against her husband, Arnold of Egmond.

Catherine (1417-1476), the great-great-aunt of Henry VIII's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, was involved in politics from an early age. At the age of six years she was betrothed, purely for dynastic and political reasons, to Arnold of Egmond, duke of Guelders and count of Zutphen (1410-1473). The marriage took place when Catherine was thirteen, in 1430. Although she bore her husband six children over the course of the next 10 years, the marriage was not a happy one. In 1440 Catherine refused to live with her husband; she took up residence in castles in Nijmegen and Lobith.

Debt-ridden and involved in costly wars, Arnold was not the most successful of rulers. Eventually, Catherine and her only living son, Adolf, imprisoned Arnold and forced him to cede the throne to his son. Anarchy ensued and the familial conflict became international, resulting in Arnold securing his freedom in 1471. He regained his title and with new support from the famed Charles the Bold, duke of Burgandy, threw his son, Adolf, in prison. Arnold, however, died two years later, in 1473; he was followed by Catherine in 1476 and Adolf in 1477.

Mounted in frames or shown in cases, the leaves are exhibited in their original sequence when the manuscript, bound in one volume, rested in Catherine's hands. (The manuscript was separated into two volumes in the nineteenth century by a bookseller who was able to make each volume look complete by cleverly mixing up the leaves.)

The exhibition begins with a dozen images from the heart of the book — the Hours of the Virgin. The famous portrait of Catherine praying to the Virgin Mary, surrounded by the heraldry of eight of her ancestors, is on display. The next section, the Hours of the Cross, is illustrated by a series of images of Christ's Passion. Miniatures from the Weekday Hours follow, including two more portraits of Catherine. In one, she is distributing alms; in the other, she petitions the crucified Christ to seek her salvation from God the Father.

The exhibition also features illustrations for the Penitential Psalms and the Office of the Dead. One of the most striking miniatures is a representation of Hell — a proto-Boschian vision of eternal torture with devils casting the damned into a furnace-like prison, the entrance of which is a roaring beast's gaping maw fanged with three sets of teeth. The final suite of miniatures includes twenty Suffrages.

The exhibition contains examples of the visual source material from which the Master of Catherine of Cleves derived his style, including works by the previous generation of illuminators. There is, for example, a manuscript illuminated by an artist nicknamed the Master of the Morgan Infancy Cycle. The eponymous codex, which was purchased by the Morgan in 1953, is open to an image of King David encircled by a legion of dragons whose twisted necks and strangled expressions offered the Master of Catherine of Cleves appropriate inspiration for some of his wild beasts. Also featured in this section is another Morgan manuscript, the Egmond Breviary. This codex, which belonged to Arnold, was illuminated by Dutch artists called the Masters of Zweder of Culemborg. These artists seasoned a courtly style with a mastery of landscape and interiors; the inclusion of illumination by the Zweder Masters demonstrates how the Master of Catherine of Cleves was influenced by their creations, both stylistically and iconographically.

Also on display are codices illuminated by contemporaries, such as the Morgan Book of Hours illuminated by the Masters of the Delft Grisailles. Working in pen and ink and soft gray tones accented with gold and, sometimes, a few choice colors, the Delft Grisailles Masters produced austere illumination that contrasts with that by the Master of Catherine of Cleves.

The exhibition opened in the fall of 2009 in the Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen, one of Catherine's hometowns. The curators were Rob Dückers and Ruud Priem. The show at the Morgan is organized by Roger S. Wieck, curator of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts.

The exhibition Demons and Devotion is accompanied by three publications. A general volume, From the Hand of the Master: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, edited by Dr. Anne Margreet As-Vijvers, is a monograph that reproduces 35 miniatures, with commentary, and includes essays on the book's borders, the artistic sources of the artist, and the representations of children and domesticity. A scholarly book, The World of Catherine of Cleves: Devotion, Demons, and Daily Life in the Fifteenth Century, edited by Rob Dückers and Ruud Priem, reproduces nearly two thirds of the manuscript's miniatures and includes catalogue entries on additional codices by the artist as well as numerous scholarly essays, including one by Morgan curator Roger Wieck. A high-quality color facsimile, The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, with a commentary by Mr. Dückers, Eberhard König, Mr. Wieck, and others, reproduces all the miniatures and text pages in the ir original, 15th-century order.

Creation of Eve, Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, Netherlands, Utrecht, ca. 1440, Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963; MS M.917, page 138.

Deathbed, Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, Netherlands, Utrecht, ca. 1440, Illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963; MS.917, page 180.

All Martyrs, Da Costa Hours, in Latin Belgium, Ghent, ca. 1515, Illuminated by Simon Bening, The Morgan Library & Museum; MS M.399, fol. 295v.

Flight into Egypt, Book of Hours, in Latin, Belgium, Bruges, 1520s, Illuminated by Simon Bening , The Morgan Library & Museum; MS M.307, fol. 71v

The Morgan Library
& Museum
225 Madison Avenue
at 36th Street
212-685-0008
New York
Clare Eddy Thaw Gallery
Flemish Illumination
in the Era
of Catherine of Cleves
January 22-May 2, 2010

The 15th and early 16th centuries saw the last great flowering of Flemish illumination. As a complement to The Morgan Library & Museum’s exhibition of The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, a separate show of e18 illuminated Books of Hours from the area of and around Flanders (part of modern Belgium) are presented. Flemish Illumination in the Era of Catherine of Cleves opens simultaneously with the Cleves exhibition..

The Flemish manuscripts provide intriguing iconographic and stylistic points of comparison with miniatures from Catherine’s great manuscript. All the works in the show are from the Morgan’s holdings, and each at its heart contains the Hours of the Virgin, a sequence of prayers to the mother of God that were ideally recited throughout the course of the day.

The exhibition includes examples from major illuminators from this prolific creative period encompassing the late Middle Ages and the northern Renaissance. On view are works by Lieven van Lathem and Willem Vrelant, two artists who collaborated with, and were influenced by the creator of the Cleves manuscript, known as “the Master of Catherine of Cleves.”

Simon Bening (1483/84-1561), considered one of the greatest Flemish illuminators, is represented by three manuscripts at the center of the exhibition. The Da Costa Hours, known after its second owner, Don Alvaro da Costa, is a masterpiece infused with lush landscapes, beautiful borders, and keen observation of detail. The manuscript will be open to the startling image of All Martyrs, illustrating the numerous ways over the centuries by which Christians have been put to death for their faith.

The second manuscript by Bening depicts the Flight of Egypt. It exemplifies Bening’s interest in documenting landscape and weather conditions and includes extraordinarily observed details. For example, in the background to the right of the Virgin’s head, a tiny gold statue has toppled from a column on a hill, signifying the collapse of the old pagan world. The third manuscript by Bening is the Van Damme Book of Hours depicting a dramatic night scene: The Annunciation to the Shepherds.

Other highlights in the exhibition include a Book of Hours painted by the Master of Jean Chevrot illustrating St. George Slaying the Dragon. The image is reminiscent of panel paintings by Jan van Eyck in its attention to detail in the armor, the birds in the sky, and the dragon’s genitals.

The exhibition is organized by Roger S. Wieck, curator of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts at The Morgan Library & Museum.

Paul Sandby (1731-1809), View in a Park, 18th century, Pen and black ink, watercolor, over faint indications in pencil, 264 x 460 mm, Purchased as the gift of the Fellows, 1963; 1963.1, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

Cassandra Austen (1773-1845), Autograph letter signed, relating Jane Austen’s death: “I have lost a treasure, such a Sister, such a friend as never can have been surpassed.” Winchester, to Fanny Knight, 20 July 1817, Bequest of Mrs. Alberta H. Burke, 1975; MA 2911.10, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

Jane Austen (1775-1817), Autograph letter signed, with a drawing of the lace pattern of her cloak: Bath, to Cassandra Austen, 2 June 1799, Purchased by J. P. Morgan, Jr., 1920; MA 977.4, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

Jane Austen (1775-1817), Autograph letter signed, with a drawing of the lace pattern of her cloak: Bath, to Cassandra Austen, 2 June 1799, Purchased by J. P. Morgan, Jr., 1920; MA 977.4, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

James Gillray (1756-1815), Matrimonial-Harmonics, a satire on marriage, London: Published by H. Humphrey, 27, St James’s Street, 25, October 1805, Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987; 1986.336, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

Jane Austen (1775–1817) Autograph note, listing the profits of her novels, ca. 1817, Purchased by J. P. Morgan, Jr., 1925; MA 1034.5, Images provided by DIAMM on behalf of Jane Austen’s, Holograph Fiction MSS: A Digital and Print Edition.

Thomas Moule (1784-1851), City of Bath, where Austen visited often and lived, and which appears in her novels, London: George Virtue, 1837, Bequest of Mrs. Alberta H. Burke, 1975; MA 7285, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

Gallery of Fashion, London: N. Heideloff, 1794-1803, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, ca. 1907; PML 5676, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

Chris Hammond (fl. 1890-1899), She was almost ready to cry out, “Lord, what should hinder it.” [189-], Pen and black ink on Bristol board, Bequest of Alberta H. Burke, 1975; 1975.61:5, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Avenue
at 36th Street
212-685-0008
New York
A Woman’s Wit:
Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy
November 6, 2009-March 14, 2010

Offering a close-up portrait of the iconic British author, whose popularity has surged over the last two decades with numerous motion picture and television adaptations of her work, the show provides tangible intimacy with Austen through the presentation of more than 100 works, including her manuscripts, personal letters, and related materials, many of which the Morgan has not exhibited in over a quarter century.

A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy also includes first and early illustrated editions of Austen’s novels as well as drawings and prints depicting people, places, and events of biographical significance. A highlight of the exhibition is a specially commissioned film by the noted Italian director Francesco Carrozzini, featuring interviews with artists and scholars such as Siri Hustvedt, Fran Lebowitz, Sandy Lerner, Colm Tóibín, Harriet Walter, and Cornel West.

“The greatness of Jane Austen’s writing is seen in her continuing popularity today,” said William M. Griswold, director of The Morgan Library & Museum. “Although she wrote about life and society in England two centuries ago, her witty, satirical approach to her subjects resonates with contemporary readers. The Morgan is fortunate to have such an outstanding collection of Austen material, and this exhibition provides a close, intimate look at the artist’s life and work.”

Jane Austen was born in 1775 into a rural middle-class family. Her father, George Austen, was the rector at Steventon, a small village in the southern English county of Hampshire. Her mother, Cassandra Austen, was a member of a prominent family. Austen’s immediate family included six brothers and one sister, also named Cassandra, who remained Jane’s closest friend and confidante throughout her life.

At an early age, the two sisters were sent to Oxford for schooling. Both girls, however, caught typhus and returned home. Two years later, they were once again sent away to school. At the age of eleven, Jane Austen finished her formal education and returned home. It was in this environment, encouraged by family — all enthusiastic readers themselves — that she began to write poems, stories, and plays for her family’s as well as her own amusement.

As Austen grew into adulthood, she continued to work on her fiction while taking part in the everyday activities of young women of her time — she practiced the pianoforte, assisted in supervising servants, sewed, socialized frequently at dances and balls, traveled to visit family members, and detailed these activities in numerous witty and amusing letters, mostly to Cassandra. She continued to write short pieces and shared them with her family.

Most likely first composed 1794-95, Austen’s first surviving novel, Lady Susan, about a wicked yet enchanting widow who is determined to find a husband at any cost for herself and her retiring daughter, was written as a series of letters. It was a longer and more sophisticated story than her previous efforts. Lady Susan was never published during her lifetime; it was not until 1811 that her first major novel, Sense and Sensibility, was printed, followed by Pride and Prejudice (initially entitled First Impressions; 1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), and the posthumous Northanger Abbey and Persuasion (1817).

In 1816 Austen became ill but continued writing. She died in 1817, at the age of 41.

The exhibition is organized into three sections: Austen’s life and personal letters, her works, her legacy, and concludes with the documentary-style film.

Only a relatively small number of Austen’s personal letters have survived. The Morgan is a major repository of her correspondence, with one third of all surviving letters held in the department of Literary and Historical Manuscripts. These materials—from correspondence to her beloved sister, Cassandra, to a letter to her niece in which all the words are spelled backwards, to “crossed letters” (also known as “cross-hatching,” in which Austen, to save paper and reduce postal charges, wrote across the horizontal lines of text at right angles) — offer a remarkable glimpse into Austen’s everyday life and relationships, as told in her characteristically witty and confident voice. Some highlights include a letter dated 2 June 1799 to her sister, which includes a drawing of the lace pattern of her cloak, and a letter dated 20 July 1817, written by Cassandra to Fanny Knight, Austen’s beloved niece, reporting Austen’s death: “I have lost a treasure, such a Sister, such a friend as never can have been surpassed.”

Drawings and prints of people, places, and events of importance in Austen’s life and times will provide visual context for the letters. On view is a Portrait of Mrs. Q (Mrs. Harriet Quentin) by William Blake. Upon seeing this portrait in London, Austen remarked that this was just as she imagined Mrs. Bingley (Jane Bennet, who marries Charles Bingley at the conclusion of Pride and Prejudice). There will also be numerous prints by James Gillray (1757-1815), an influential printmaker and social satirist, who touched on many of the same subjects and themes found in his illustrious contemporary’s letters and novels, including women’s fashions, marriage, and social rank.

The section on Austen’s works includes the autograph manuscript of Lady Susan (rewritten ca. 1805), the only surviving complete manuscript of any of her novels. Also included in the exhibition is an unfinished autograph manuscript of The Watsons (ca. 1805), which remained unfinished and is the only surviving manuscript of Austen’s novels showing her work in progress and under revision. Also on view is an autograph note by Austen, listing the date of composition of her novels Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Emma. Another note lists the profits of her novels.

The exhibition also incorporates rare books and manuscripts from the Morgan’s collections by authors who influenced Austen, including Fanny Burney, William Cowper, Samuel Richardson, and Lord Byron. After reading Byron’s poem The Corsair: A Tale, Austen wrote in a letter to her sister, “I have read The Corsair, mended my petticoat, and have nothing else to do.”

The legacy of Jane Austen is examined through later writers’ responses to her work. Beginning with a diary entry by her contemporary Sir Walter Scott, the exhibition also features comments by twentieth-century writers, including Vladimir Nabokov, William Butler Yeats, and Rudyard Kipling.

The influence and popularity of Jane Austen is also examined through the film at the conclusion of the exhibition. It features interviews about Austen with an eclectic group of artists and scholars.

The exhibition is organized by Declan Kiely, Robert H. Taylor Curator, and Clara Drummond, Assistant Curator, Literary and Historical Manuscripts, The Morgan Library & Museum.

Jane Austen, Steel engraving after a sketch by, Cassandra Austen, London: Richard Bentley, 1870, Purchased by J. P. Morgan, Jr., 1925;
MA 1034.12, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

Georges Maile (fl. 1818-1841), Marchioness of Huntley, 19th century. A companion piece to Portrait of Mrs. Q, Gift of Mr. Charles Ryskamp, 1983; 1983.4
Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

Anonymous, British School, 19 Century, Miniature Portrait of Jane Austen, Watercolor on ivory, The Morgan Library & Museum; AZ078
Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

James Gillray (1756-1815), And catch the living manners are they rise, a satire on hat plumes and contemporary fashion, London: Published by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street, 7 May 1794, Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987; 1986.393, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

Isabel Bishop (1902-1988), Scene from Pride and Prejudice: “Her sister and Mr. Bingley standing together.” 20th century, Pen and black ink, gray wash, over pencil, Gift of Mrs. Robert E. Blum in honor of Charles Ryskamp on his 10th anniversary as director, 1979; 1979.32:29, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.

Jane Austen (1775-1817), Autograph letter signed, cross written to save paper and postage: Southampton, to Cassandra Austen, 8-9 February 1807, Purchased by J. P. Morgan, Jr., 1920; MA 977.15, Photography by Schecter Lee, 2009.