Da Vinci and John Coltrane Manuscripts Lead Exhibition of New Acquisitions at the Morgan
Janny Chiu/Morgan
Leonardo da Vinci, Trattato della pittura (A Treatise on Painting). Manuscript fair copy, produced in the workshop of Cassiano dal Pozzo, ca. 1638–1641
The Morgan Library & Museum will open A Celebration: Acquisitions in Honor of the Morgan’s Centennial, an exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Pierpont Morgan Library as a public institution on May 9.
Running through August 17, the exhibition highlights a selection of acquisitions including two manuscripts related to the publication of Leonardo da Vinci’s Treatise on Painting, Renaissance and modern bookbindings of exceptional craftsmanship, and a group of manuscripts related to Queen Elizabeth I, Marie de’ Medici, Edgar Allan Poe, and John Coltrane.
Among the highlights is the Hours of Anne de Neufville, a stunning Book of Hours circa 1430 illuminated by the Bedford Master. Named after a 16th century owner, the manuscript showcases the virtuosity of the most influential French illuminator of the early 15th century. The Adoration of the Magi scene will be on view in the exhibition.
Also on show will be the Portrait of Pope Pius V and Teodosio Fiorenzi (1566–68) by Giovanni Battista Capocaccia, known to be one of two wax portraits by the artist mentioned in the 1568 edition of Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. The rare, delicate three-dimensional portrait is housed in an elaborate wooden book box created around the same time by the Vatican bindery that features gilt decorations on red morocco goatskin.
John Coltrane, fragments and drafts for incomplete compositions, ca. 1945–55
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Janny Chiu/Morgan
Giovanni Battista Capocaccia, Portrait of Pope Pius V and Teodosio Fiorenzi, Rome, 1566–68
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Graham S. Haber/Morgan
Unknown photographer, Edgar Allan Poe, ca. 1849–1850s, daguerreotype
Leonardo da Vinci’s Trattato della pittura (A Treatise on Painting) is a manuscript fair copy produced in the workshop of Cassiano dal Pozzo around 1638–1641. Compiled by Leonardo’s longtime assistant Francesco Melzi, the Treatise remained unpublished until 1651, when it was printed in Paris with illustrations by Nicolas Poussin and Gasparo Berti. This heavily revised copy, once owned by Cassiano dal Pozzo, includes drawings that illustrate chapters “on forceful movements of human limbs” and “on human movement,” offering a glimpse into Leonardo’s enduring influence on art and science.
Music is represented by an autograph manuscript featuring fragments and drafts for incomplete compositions by the saxophonist, composer, and bandleader John Coltrane. These manuscript drafts (cs. 1945-55), which belonged to Coltrane’s family, do not represent any known finished composition, but show Coltrane’s early explorations with the complex new bebop style.
