Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Pages of Gold: Medieval Illuminations from the Morgan

June 19 through September 13, 2009

This exhibition comprises nearly sixty lavish single leaves dating from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. Pierpont Morgan, a preeminent collector of complete medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, also acquired single pages, as did many collectors who developed an appreciation for these orphaned leaves during the nineteenth century. Leaves acquired over the last hundred years, including those of Italian, English, French, Flemish, German, Hungarian, and Spanish origin, are shown. A dozen of these leaves are on view for the first time.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the finest leaf from the celebrated Winchester Bible, arguably the most lavish English Bible of its time. Made in Winchester during the last quarter of the twelfth century, it contains vivid scenes from the lives of Samuel and David and was the last leaf acquired by Pierpont Morgan before his death in 1913. Other works on view include leaves from a book made for Hungarian nobility, cuttings of initials and leaves from choir books illuminated by Silvestro dei Gherarducci, and works of the Spanish Forger, a twentieth-century medieval painter who successfully forged numerous medieval manuscripts and leaves.

This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of T. Robert Burke and Katherine States Burke, Melvin R. Seiden, and an anonymous donor.

Scenes from the Life of David, leaf from the Winchester Bible, illuminated by the Master of the Morgan Leaf. England, Winchester, Cathedral Priory of St. Swithin, ca. 1160-80. Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1912; MS M.619v.

Selected Images

Biblical cycle, leaf from the prefatory cycle of the Eadwine Psalter , ca. 1155–60, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1911 , MS M.521r.
Biblical cycle, leaf from the prefatory cycle of the Eadwine Psalter. , ca. 1155–60, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1911 , MS M.521v
Scenes from the Life of Samuel , ca. 1160–80, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1912 , MS M.619 (recto)
Scenes from the Life of David , ca. 1160–80, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1912 , MS M.619 (verso)
Last Judgment, in an initial A , ca. 1280, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan from Leo Olschki, 1907 , MS M.273
Scenes from the Life of Christ , ca. 1325–35, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1909 , MS M.360.10
Celebration of Mass , ca. 1330, Purchased from Maggs Bros. Ltd., 1927 , MS M.716.4
Christ in Majesty , ca. 1340, MS M.742
Trinity and Three Angels Appearing to Abraham, in an initial B , 1392–99, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1909 , MS M.653.2
Two Prophets, in initials S and V , 1392–99, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1910 , MS M.478.16, 17
Last Supper, in an initial C , 1392–99, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1909 , MS M.653.4
Ascension, in an initial V , 1392–99, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1909 , MS M.653.3
Adoration of the Magi, in an initial E , 1392–99, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1909 , MS M.653.5
Nativity, in an initial P , ca. 1392–1399, MS M.653.1
Resurrection, in an initial A , last quarter of the fifteenth century, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1909 , MS M.444
Jesus Stoned by the Crowd, in an initial I , ca. 1500, Purchased on the Acquisition Fund, 1995 , MS M.1090
Virgin and Child with Female Saints , ca. 1500, Purchased by J. P. Morgan, Jr., 1926 , MS M.659
Crucifixion , ca. 1510, Purchased as the gift of the Fellows, with special assistance of four members of the Board of Trustees, Mrs. Gordon S. Rentschler, and the Arkville Erpf Fund, 1973, in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the Library , MS M.955
Adoration of Magi , ca. 1500, The Morgan Library & Museum, 1927 , MS M.725
Virgin and Child Enthroned with the Gentleman of Cologne and a Soldier, in an initial A , ca. 1500, Gift of William S. Glazier, 1958 , MS M.887.1
Pope Clement VII Asperging the Congregation Before Mass , ca. 1523, Vellum with montage pasted on card, MS M.1134
Four Evangelists , ca. 1572–85, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan from Leo Olschki, 1907 , MS M.270
Seated Ruler with Two Women and a Standing Saint , first quarter of the twentieth century, Purchased (as the Spanish Forger), 1967 , MS M.786c