#Morgan library

[thecornercoffeeshop]

The Morgan Library, New York

[partialto]

Ceiling details in the Morgan Library

[without-ado]

Morgan Library & Museum in NY (x)

[arthistoryanimalia]

A silly snail for a slow Sunday:

Beatrix Potter (English, 1866-1943)

"There was an old snail with a nest,"

June 26-July 28, 1898

Watercolor, pen & ink, & graphite on card

On display at The Morgan Library’s Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature exhibition

AN OLD SNAIL WITH A NEST

Beatrix saw a snail digging a nest and watched its eggs hatch. This drawing illustrates a limerick:

There was an old snail with a nest—

Who very great terror expressed,

Lest the wood-lice all round In the cracks under ground

Should eat up her eggs in that nest!

Her days and her nights were oppressed, But soon all her fears were at rest;

For eleven young snails

With extremely short tails,

Hatched out of the eggs in that nest.

[uwmspeccoll]

Welcome to Manuscript Monday!

In this series we will periodically focus on selections from our manuscript facsimile collection. Today we present selections from the Morgan Beatus Manuscript, reproduced as A Spanish Apocalypse, The Morgan Beatus Manuscript in New York by George Braziller, Inc. in association with the Pierpont Morgan Library in 1991. The original manuscript, made around 10th century CE at the scriptorium of San Miguel de Escalada in Spain by a monk named Maius, is the earliest surviving illuminated version of the monk Beatus of Liébana's commentary on the biblical Book of Apocalypse (also known as the Book of Revelation).  The text of the Book of Revelation makes up the first part of the manuscript, and Beatus’s commentary comprises the second part. The Book of Revelation tells of the end-times in Christianity, during the final judgement of humanity by God. The story within this Biblical book was also seen by those living during the Latin medieval era as representative of the beginning of something new: God’s celestial kingdom. Due to this view of the book, many artists incorporated imagery from this part of the Bible in their work.

Produced in Al-Andalus, or Muslim-ruled Spain, the artistic style of this work combines both Muslim and Christian visual traditions to create a beautifully illuminated manuscript that supplements the commentary by the monk. This artistic style is known as the Mozarabic, which comes from the Arabic mustaʿrib, meaning ‘Arabicized’. Interestingly, this style of art can only be seen in Christian religious art and architecture from Spain at the time, as non-religious artistic objects made by Christians look so similar to Islamic versions of the same works that they cannot be identified as intentionally Christian. Some key Islamic artistic elements within the manuscript include buildings with horseshoe arches, intricate geometric and vegetal patterns as borders for larger images, and the large, bulging eyes of the illustrated animals.

Another interesting aspect of this specific manuscript is the colophon at the end of the manuscript. It tells readers about the circumstances surrounding the creation of this book, including the maker, the patron, the year it was made, and an explanation about why Maius created the manuscript ("I write this . . . at the command of Abbot Victor, out of love for the book of the vision of John the beloved disciple. As part of its adornment I have painted a series of pictures . . . so that the wise may fear the coming of the future judgement of the world's end."). Colophons in medieval manuscripts are not usually as detailed, so the inclusion of all this information contributes greatly to the knowledge and history surrounding the Morgan Beatus Manuscript.

View more Manuscript Monday posts.

– Sarah S., Special Collections Graduate Intern

[meganwhalenturner]

While I'm promoting museum visits. The Morgan Library's exhibit on the women of Mesopotamia ends February 19. If I had the time, I'd fly to New York just to see it. If I had the time, I'd be there right now.

[bonerdonorxxx44]

Morgan Library in New York

Photo by @thedustyvalise

[kallenchi]

Sketches drawn at the Morgan Library. Image description under cut.

[ID: Six image photo set of sketchbook drawings drawn at the Morgan Library. 1) A gray mannequin bust wearing a golden floral headdress, gold hair coils and a series of necklaces with carnelian, lapis lazuli, and golden beaded chains hanging down the chest, drawn in marker. Written in pencil beneath the drawing, “Study of Queen Puabi’s funerary ensemble ca 2500BC.” 2) A stone carving of a female figure, drawn in yellow and orange marker, and shadows marked in gray. The figure is forward facing with her hands clasped at her abdomen. She wears a long-sleeved dress, hair braided around the top of her head, and bears a smile on her face. Written in pencil beneath the drawing, “Standing Female Figure w/ Clasped Hands - Mesopotamia (2600-2450 BC).” 3) Top half of stone female figure, drawn in pencil. The figure faces front-left three quarters, her right arm and left hand broken off. She bears a neutral expression, voluminous hair tied in a bob, and a woven dress with triangular etchings. The figure’s left side (the viewer’s right) is heavily worn down. Written on the right of the drawing, “Standing female figure Assur Temple 2400BC.” 4) Domed ceiling of the rotunda of the Morgan Library, sketched loosely in pencil. The center of the dome is an octagonal window, divided into eight triangular panes. Branching out from it are a series of repeating scribbled patterns, and mosaic panels featuring cherubs and other classical figures. 5) A casually dressed woman seated front-facing on a bench at the historic library room of the Morgan Library, sketched loosely in pencil. She has straight, medium-length hair, wearing sunglasses resting on her head, a face mask, open cardigan, t shirt, culottes, and closed-toe shoes. Her right hand rests on the side of her face, in the middle of a thought. Behind her is a glass case displaying books, and a wall of bookshelves. Beneath her is a carpeted floor marked by loose scribbles. 6) The fireplace of the Morgan Library historic library room, viewed at a right-facing, three quarter angle. It is drawn in pencil, spanning across one and a half sketchbook pages. The marble fireplace is carved with two Ionian columns to the sides, flanked by two, classical-style, bronze statuettes. Several birch logs fill the firebox. The back of the fireplace is decorated with a relief of a dragon resting atop flames.

End ID]

[thecornercoffeeshop]

Pinning this as inspiration for my future study / The Morgan Library, New York

[lizacharlesworth1]

Morgan Library Mahattan by Liza Charlesworth

[partialto]

[kecobe]

Don Juan George Gordon Byron, Baron Byron (British; 1788–1824) Autograph manuscript, unsigned First draft of Cantos I–V  (Venice and Ravenna, July 3, 1818–November 30, 1819 and October 16–November 27, 1820 The Morgan Library & Museum, New York

[arthistoryanimalia]

For #ManuscriptMonday / #MedievalMonday:

Richard de Fournival

Bestiaire d'amour (Bestiary of Love), in Old French

N. Italy, c.1290

Morgan Library MS M.459, fols. 7v-8r

A DANGEROUS MELODY

The Bestiary of Love is a plea from a lover to his unsympathetic lady. The text refashions the traditional animal lore of medieval bestiaries by applying the lessons of nature to the lover's plight. At top left a weasel delivers its young through its mouth, which the author compares to a woman delivering a refusal. Below is the Caladrius, a mythical bird that could signal a sick person's fate with its glance. If the lady looks away, the poet is doomed to suffer the death of love. At right, the author compares his lady to a siren whose sweet melody lures unsuspecting sailors to their death.

[uwmspeccoll]

Milestone Monday

On this date, August 31 in 1535, King Henry VIII of England was excommunicated from the church by Pope Paul III. This was the culmination of a long series of conflicts and actions stemming from the king's desire to have his marriage to his first wife Catherine of Aragon annulled, which the previous Pope Clement VII opposed. This eventually led to a schism with the church in Rome and several excommunication proclamations by both Clement and Paul. Henry's confirmation as the Supreme Head of the Church of England in 1534, and then his execution of Bishop John Fisher in June of 1535, followed in July by the execution of Sir Thomas More, precipitated Paul III's excommunication order of August 31. On 17 December 1538 Pope Paul III issued a further bull renewing the execution of the August 31 bull, which had been suspended in a cautious hope Henry would repeal his behavior.

Henry was not always on the outs with Rome, and was in fact once considered a contemporary pillar of the church. In the early part of his reign, Henry was a devout and well-informed Catholic to the extent that his 1521 publication Assertio Septem Sacramentorum ("Defence of the Seven Sacraments") earned him the title of Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith) from Pope Leo X. One testament to his early piety might be seen in his probable ownership of this Book of Hours, known as The Hours of Henry VIII executed by the French miniature painter and manuscript illuminator Jean Poyet sometime between 1500 and 1503, and currently held by the Morgan Library in New York City. The images shown here are from "the Library's first monograph devoted to the oeuvre of a single illuminator," published by George Brazillier in 2000. Click on the Alt description of each image to view the titles.

View more Milestone Monday posts.

[lunasohma]

gift shop highlights

[surr0unds]

morgan library