The Morgan Library & Museum

The Morgan Library & Museum Once the private library of financier J. Today it is a museum, independent research library, music venue, architectural landmark, and historic site.
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Pierpont Morgan—now a museum, research library, architectural landmark, and historic site in the heart of New York City. The Morgan Library & Museum began as the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan, one of the preeminent collectors and cultural benefactors in the United States. A century after its founding, the Morgan maintains a unique position in the cultural life of New York City and is considered one of its greatest treasures.

Our current exhibition "Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions" explores how the cards have been adapted and reinven...
09/01/2026

Our current exhibition "Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions" explores how the cards have been adapted and reinvented across cultures and centuries.

For artist Remedios Varo (1908–1963), tarot offered a natural meeting point for her fascination with spirituality, science, psychology, and philosophy. In her latest blog post, Esther Levy, Curatorial Assistant in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Drawings, explores Varo’s relationship to tarot and the ideas that shaped her work. Read the full post: https://www.themorgan.org/blog/remedios-varos-clock-tarot-time-and-recurrence
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Remedios Varo, "The Other Clock," 1957. Ink and gouache on medium weight cardstock. Private Collection. © 2026 Remedios Varo, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Madrid. Courtesy of Gallery Wendi Norris

08/31/2026

Did you know that no tarot Devil cards from the Renaissance have survived? Josh O'Driscoll, Curator and Department Head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, offers up his explanation why that is.

"Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions" is on view through October 4, 2026.
[Morgan library and museum, tarot, research library, museum life, nyc museum]

Join the Morgan in wishing a happy birthday to Mary Shelley! Best known as the author of Frankenstein (1818), Shelley be...
08/30/2026

Join the Morgan in wishing a happy birthday to Mary Shelley!

Best known as the author of Frankenstein (1818), Shelley began writing her groundbreaking novel as a teenager. Born in London in 1797 to the radical thinkers William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, she went on to write numerous novels, short stories, and essays over the course of her life, leaving a literary legacy that extends far beyond Frankenstein.

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Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851). Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus. London: Printed for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, Finsbury Square, 1818, p. [ii], half title page, verso and p. [iii], title page, recto, PML 16799, (PhotoShop)

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[New york city museum, morgan library and museum, mary shelley, frankestein, william, godwin, mary wollstonecraft]

First played in 15th-century Italy, tarot was a game of strategy and chance long before it became associated with divina...
08/28/2026

First played in 15th-century Italy, tarot was a game of strategy and chance long before it became associated with divination.

Early tarot decks featured four suits—Cups, Coins, Swords, and Batons—along with a special set of trump cards, known in Italian as trionfi, or “triumphs.” These allegorical cards featured figures and scenes such as the Emperor, Death, and the World. Players took turns playing cards, following suit when they could or playing a trump card to win each round. At the end of the game, players or teams scored points based on the cards they had captured.

Think of it like Hearts, Spades, or Bridge—but with a deck filled with richly symbolic imagery.

Have you ever played tarot as a card game? Let us know in the comments!

1. (L) The Ace of Cups (R) The Ace of Swords.
2. (L) The Five of Cups (R) The Nine of Batons

All works by Bonifacio Bembo from the Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards. Italy, Milan or Cremona, ca. 1456-58. The Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.630.12. Photography by Graham S. Haber.

Are you ready for tonight's lunar eclipse? In ancient Western Asia, an eclipse was never just a spectacle; it was a terr...
08/27/2026

Are you ready for tonight's lunar eclipse?

In ancient Western Asia, an eclipse was never just a spectacle; it was a terrifying message from the gods. To the people of Mesopotamia, a sudden darkening of the sun or moon signaled impending chaos, foretelling devastating famines, deadly plagues, or catastrophic floods. A lunar eclipse that began during the morning watch could mean that the ruling dynasty was about to fall.

Babylonian astronomers spent centuries documenting the night sky. By the Seleucid Period (4th–1st centuries BC), omen texts shifted to sophisticated mathematical and scientific calculations. Yet, with science and religion being closely integrated, astronomical data dictated religious rituals. This remarkable clay tablet in the Morgan's collection reveals instructions for a ritual dedicated to Sin, the moon god:

"This is that which to Sin during an eclipse he shall sing. As long as the eclipse lasts, the people of the land shall remove their headgear; they shall cover their heads with their garments. They shall cry aloud; for a lamentation they shall send up their cry. Until the eclipse is past, they shall shout…"

Happy National Dog Day from Louis, our Chief Morale Officer! Louis makes sure everyone on staff is enjoying their summer...
08/26/2026

Happy National Dog Day from Louis, our Chief Morale Officer! Louis makes sure everyone on staff is enjoying their summer and politely looks for treats (usually from the Exhibitions team!).

08/25/2026

The Surrealist movement played a major role in shaping tarot’s modern identity. Claire Gilman, Curator and Department Head of Modern and Contemporary Drawings, talks about this section of the exhibition "Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions."

The exhibition is on view through October 4, 2026.
[Morgan library and museum, tarot, research library, museum life, nyc museum]

In the late 1960s, Peter Hujar became interested in photographing movement. Around this time, he asked his friend Steve ...
08/24/2026

In the late 1960s, Peter Hujar became interested in photographing movement. Around this time, he asked his friend Steve Lawrence to charge toward the camera through the snow in Tompkins Square Park. The three film strips on this contact sheet are arranged out of sequence.

The sequence begins with Lawrence striding toward the camera seven times (bottom frame, center column), followed by a series of him seated on a bench wearing sunglasses (top left frame and right column). Hujar later enlarged the second frame of the running sequence, cropping tightly around Lawrence's figure. His fascination with movement continued in later work, most notably when he photographed members of the Gay Liberation Front three years later, again asking his subjects to charge the camera.
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Peter Hujar. Steve Lawrence in the snow, Tompkins Square Park, 1967, job 321. Peter Hujar Collection, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, purchased on the Charina Endowment Fund, 2013, Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco and Ortuzar, New York; © The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS).
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[New york city museum, morgan library and museum, steve lawrence, lower east side, new york city photographer,tompkins square park, new york city museum, photography, gay liberation front]

08/23/2026

Curator Claire Gilman and curatorial assistant Esther Levy discuss how tarot has endured as a source of inspiration for 20th and 21st century artists as explored in our exhibition "Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions."

In the Modern Visions section, traces artists’ engagement with tarot imagery during four distinct historical moments in which the occult assumed greater prominence within the larger culture.

"Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions" is on view through October 4th.

Long before plans for “Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions” took shape, conservators, conservation scientists, an...
08/21/2026

Long before plans for “Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions” took shape, conservators, conservation scientists, and curators began a collaborative research project to study the three oldest surviving sets of tarot cards—including the Morgan’s Visconti-Sforza cards (c. 1456–58) and Yale’s Visconti di Modrone cards (c. 1447).

Spanning six cultural institutions, the multi-year project marked the first time these extraordinary cards underwent in-depth technical analysis. Using microscopes and analytical tools, researchers looked beneath their surfaces to uncover pigments, materials, brushwork, and evidence of how the cards were made, altered, and preserved—offering new insight into their place within the tradition of Northern Italian illumination.

The Morgan’s Assistant Book Conservator Lydia Aikenhead sat down with the scientists behind the project to explore their discoveries and the science behind the cards.

Read the full story: https://www.themorgan.org/blog/how-scientists-read-cards-analysis-visconti-sforza-tarot-decks
[tarot, tarot cards, conservation, art conservation, art history, renaissance art]

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