Join author Deborah Parker, the 2025 winner of Library of Virginia and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ annual Art in Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award, for an online talk about her book “Becoming Belle da Costa Greene: A Visionary Librarian Through Her Letters.”
Belle da Costa Greene was Pierpont Morgan’s personal librarian and the first director of the Morgan Library. She was also the daughter of two mixed-race parents and passed for white. In the nearly 600 letters that Greene sent to art historian Bernard Berenson, Parker identifies Greene’s energetic pursuit of exceptional opportunities, illuminating the artistry and imaginative features of Greene’s writing — her self-invention, her vibrant responses to books and art, and her pathbreaking work as a librarian.
Deborah Parker is Professor of Italian Emerita at the University of Virginia. Her books include “Commentary and Ideology: Dante in the Renaissance” (1992), “Bronzino: Renaissance Painter as Poet” (2000) and “Michelangelo and the Art of Letter Writing” (2011) and the co-author, along with Mark Parker of “The Attainable Text: The Special Edition DVD and the Study of Film” (2011), “Inferno Revealed: From Dante to Dan Brown” (2013) and “Sucking Up: A Brief Consideration of Sycophancy” (2017). Her most recent book is “Becoming Belle da Costa Greene: A Visionary Librarian Through Her Letters” (2024).
This free event is presented by Virginia Humanities in partnership with the Library of Virginia. Registration is required.