The Morgan Library and Museum proudly presents Poetry and Patronage: The Laubespine-Villeroy Library Rediscovered, which recently opened and will run through May 16, 2021. The exhibition brings together some of the most spectacular bindings from the library of Claude III de Laubespine, one of the great collectors of the French Renaissance, for the first time in almost 450 years. Young, handsome, and highborn, Laubespine lived in luxury after marrying an heiress and obtaining the favor of King Charles IX. His career at court was cut short in 1570, when he died at the age of 25, leaving behind a splendid library. The books were bequeathed to his sister, Madeleine de Villeroy, a patron of the poet Pierre de Ronsard, who praised her, her husband, and the library of her husbands country estate. The library was eventually dispersed, and only recently have the books been identified and properly appreciated for their superb quality and fine bindings. Showcasing these exquisite examples of Renaissance ornamental design alongside related artwork and literary memorials of Laubespine, Poetry and Patronage will evoke the pleasure and literary connoisseurship implicit in a noble library of that era. Highlights in the exhibition include a copy of Jacopo Vignolas Regola delli cinque ordini darchitettura (1564) in a magnificent and mysterious binding. Also included in the exhibition is Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499) by Francesco Colonna, one of the greatest illustrated books of all time. Three copies are on display, one of which is in a luxurious gold powdered binding. It was a centerpiece of Laubespines library, a fitting representation of his collecting ambitions. We are pleased to present Poetry and Patronage: The Laubespine-Villeroy Library Rediscovered, an exhibition that revisits the central role of bindings in our collection and one of the most splendid libraries of the French Renaissance. The exhibition takes a close look at the art of connoisseurship through the detailed task of reuniting an exquisite set of bindings that have been separated for over four centuries, said the Morgans director, Colin B. Bailey. The exhibitions guest curator is the renowned bookbindings scholar Isabelle de Conihout. The organizing curator, John Bidwell, Astor Curator of Printed Books and Bindings at the Morgan, said, Isabelles research in the history of the Laubespine-Villeroy library has greatly enhanced our understanding of book collecting during the French Renaissance. Now more than ever we can see that fine bindings were works of art in their own right, reflecting the knowledge, wealth and taste of the connoisseurs who commissioned them. An array of engaging public programs will accompany the exhibition. For further details, visit www.themorgan.org.