NEW YORK, NY.- The Morgan Library & Museum announced the appointment of Dr. Joshua O’Driscoll as Melvin R. Seiden Curator and Department Head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, effective March 2, 2026.
O’Driscoll joined the Morgan as Assistant Curator of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in 2015 and was promoted to Associate Curator in 2022.
In his new role, O’Driscoll will oversee the care, study, exhibition, and interpretation of one of the world’s most significant collections of illuminated manuscripts dating from the fifth through the sixteenth centuries. The collection began when Pierpont Morgan started acquiring medieval manuscripts in the late nineteenth century. It now includes some 1,300 manuscripts and papyri, with a focus on Western European illuminated manuscripts in Latin and vernacular languages, with French, Italian, English, German, Flemish, and Dutch works forming the largest groups. The collection also features a smaller but notable selection of Armenian, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopian, Arabic, Persian, and Indian manuscripts.
“We are delighted to announce Josh’s appointment as Melvin R. Seiden Curator and Department Head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts. His scholarship, integrity, and vision have already strengthened the Morgan in profound ways,” said Colin B. Bailey, Katharine J. Rayner Director of the Morgan Library & Museum. “As a curator, he has brought rigor, imagination, and great care to our collections; as department head, he will guide his colleagues with the same generosity and intellectual leadership. This appointment recognizes not only Josh’s outstanding achievements, but our confidence in his ability to shape the department’s future at a very exciting moment in its history.”
“Since joining the Morgan in 2015, I have formed deep connections both to the collection itself and to the community of colleagues and benefactors who sustain it,” said O’Driscoll. “Looking ahead, the next decade promises to be an exciting and transformative period. My vision for the department extends beyond exhibitions and acquisitions to encompass expanded outreach and public engagement, strengthening strategic partnerships, and enhancing digital access to our holdings to ensure this extraordinary collection reaches broader and more diverse audiences.”
O’Driscoll is currently co-curating Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions with Frank Trujillo and Claire Gilman, opening at the Morgan on June 26, 2026. His previous Morgan exhibitions include Sing a New Song: The Psalms in Medieval Art and Life (2025, co-curator with Roger Wieck, Deirdre Jackson, and Frederica Law Turner); The Book of Marvels: Imagining the Medieval World (2025); Imperial Splendor: The Art of the Book in the Holy Roman Empire (2021, co-curator with Jeffrey Hamburger); Beautiful Youths: Dandies from the Read Persian Album (2018); and Medieval Monsters: Terrors Aliens, Wonders (2018, co-curator with Asa Mittman and Sherry Lindquist). He is also the author, co-author, or editor of numerous publications, including the upcoming Tarot! publication accompanying the exhibition.
O’Driscoll graduated magna cum laude with a BS and BA from Florida State University and holds an MA in History of Art from Williams College and a PhD in History of Art from Harvard University. He has held research positions at the Bode Museum in Berlin, the British Library in London, and the Houghton Library at Harvard University. He has also worked with the CUNY Graduate Center to develop a graduate seminar based on the Morgan’s collection that introduced new generations of students to the study of illuminated manuscripts.
