The Rotunda at "the Witching Hour"

Around 1907 Morgan apparently consented to pose for the Austrian-born artist Emil Fuchs, a successful portrait painter working in London and New York. In his autobiography, Fuchs explained that he declined to proceed with the portrait because “the gulf between [Morgan] and the mere outside world was immeasurable” and “I should not have been able to approach close enough to penetrate behind that concealing mask.” For Fuchs, however, the encounter led to a welcome opportunity:

His librarian obtained permission for me to sketch the interior of his treasure-house at night. This was a task to my liking. To be surrounded by the art of bygone days in the witching hour of the night, gave me far more pleasure than the dinner parties I thus missed.