Morgan Library traces tarot's 500-year journey from Renaissance game to occult symbol

The Morgan Library & Museum in New York opens 'Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions' on June 26, 2026, featuring around 380 works. The exhibition draws on the Morgan's own 35 Visconti-Sforza tarot cards (circa 1456-58), acquired by J.P. Morgan in 1911, and includes a loan from the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, marking the first time most surviving cards from that deck are shown together in North America. Co-curated by Joshua O'Driscoll, the show spans from 15th-century Lombardy to contemporary New York, culminating in on-site tarot readings in 2026. It traces tarot's evolution from a courtly game to an occult symbol, featuring works by Aleister Crowley, André Breton, Victor Brauner, Max Ernst, and Pamela Colman Smith, whose 1909 Rider-Waite-Smith deck illustrations—including the Fool—are highlighted. A 1908 watercolor by Smith, 'Sketch for Glass,' is also on view. The exhibition includes a card by Andrea Bembo, a member of Bonifacio Bembo's workshop, and references the Visconti di Modrone deck's Fortitude card (circa 1441-42), noted by art historian Anna Delle Foglie for its fairy-tale character. O'Driscoll emphasizes that the Visconti-Sforza cards were created by a Renaissance artist, despite some medieval imagery. The show runs through October 4, 2026.