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    Traversing the Globe through Illuminated Manuscripts

    January 26–June 26, 2016

    Getty Center

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    Canon Table Page (detail)

    Canon Table Page (detail), from the Zeyt’un Gospels, 1256, Hromklay, Armenia, T’oros Roslin. The J. Paul Getty Museum. Gift of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia

  • Scenes from the Life of David (detail)

    Scenes from the Life of David (detail), leaf from the Morgan Picture Bible, about 1250, Northern France, unknown artist. The J. Paul Getty Museum

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    Saint Matthew

    Saint Matthew, from a gospel book, late 13th century, Constantinople, unknown artist. The J. Paul Getty Museum

  • Iskandar at the Kaaba (detail)

    Iskandar at the Kaaba (detail), leaf from a manuscript of the Khamsa, about 1485-95, Shiraz, Iran, unknown artist. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. From the Nasli M. Heerameneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky. Image: www.lacma.org

  • Gracienne Taking Leave of Her Father the Sultan (detail)

    Gracienne Taking Leave of Her Father the Sultan (detail), from Romance of Gillion de Trazegnies, 1464, Antwerp, Lieven van Latham and David Aubert. The J. Paul Getty Museum

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    The Virgin and Child with the Archangels Michael and Gabriel (detail)

    The Virgin and Child with the Archangels Michael and Gabriel (detail), from a Gospel book, about 1480-1520, Gunda Gunde Monastery, Ethiopia, unknown artist. The J. Paul Getty Museum

  • The Transfiguration

    The Transfiguration, leaf from a Gospel book, early to late 13th century, Nicaea or Nicomedia, Turkey, unknown artist. The J. Paul Getty Museum

  • Khusraw Parviz Enthroned

    Khusraw Parviz Enthroned (detail), leaf from a manuscript of the Khamsa (Quintet), early 16 century, Shiraz, Iran, unknown artist. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. From the Phil Berg Collection. Image: www.lacma.org

  • The Adoration of the Magi (detail)

    The Adoration of the Magi (detail), prayer book of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, about 1525-30, Bruges, Simon Bening. The J. Paul Getty Museum

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    Carpet Page

    Carpet Page, a Qur’an, 9th century, possibly Kairouan, Tunisia, unknown artist. The J. Paul Getty Museum

  • The French King at Court (detail)

    The French King at Court (detail), from On the Miseries of Courtiers, about 1460-70, France, unknown artist. The J. Paul Getty Museum

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    Tupac Inca Yupanqui (detail)

    Tupac Inca Yupanqui (detail), from General History of Peru, completed in 1616, Southern Andes, Martin de Murúa. The J. Paul Getty Museum

Traversing the Globe through Illuminated Manuscripts

January 26–June 26, 2016, Getty Center

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In the premodern era, land and sea routes connected the remarkably mobile peoples of Europe, Africa, and Asia, many of whom were far more aware of the world beyond their doorsteps than one might realize. This exhibition features illuminated manuscripts and painted book arts from the 9th through the 17th century that bring to life in stunning ways the real and imagined places that one encounters on their pages. These highly prized objects allow us to glimpse, admire, and study a world gone by, as well as its peoples, different belief systems, and an interconnected global history of human thought and ideas about art.

The exhibition is drawn primarily from the Museum’s collection, augmented with several generous and important loans from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Norton Simon Museum, the Huntington Library, and the Charles E. Young Research Library at UCLA. This exhibition is presented in two parts. The pages of the manuscripts will be turned to reveal further treasures on April 12, 2016.

RELATED EVENTS

TALKS
The World in a Book: Illuminated Manuscripts and the Global Middle Ages

Journey across Europe, Africa, and Asia in this lecture about real and imagined encounters, exchanges, and exotic pursuits of the medieval world. Bryan C. Keene, assistant curator of manuscripts, explores mapping, religion, and trade in manuscripts from the Getty Museum's collection and related objects.
Wednesday, February 3, 7 p.m.
Getty Center: Museum Lecture Hall
Learn More

A Medieval Picture Book and Its Judeo-Persian Lives: The Shah Abbas Bible in 17th-Century Safavid Iran

In 1608, Pope Clement VIII sent a 13th-century picture Bible to Shah Abbas the Great. Later, marginal text in Persian and Judeo-Persian was added. Sussan Babaie, Andrew W. Mellon Lecturer in the Arts of Iran and Islam at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, recounts the story of this “Shah Abbas Bible,” a unique document of cross-cultural and interfaith exchanges in the Middle Ages.
Tuesday, April 19, 7 p.m.
Getty Center: Museum Lecture Hall

SYMPOSIUM
Manuscripts in a Global Context

An international gathering of scholars explores medieval manuscripts as products of encounter, exchange, and exploration. Thematic panels consider various approaches for examining the artists, patrons, and audiences as agents who desired real, imagined, and exotic representations of the world and its peoples.
April 16-17
Getty Center: Museum Lecture Hall
Learn More

TOURS
Curator’s Gallery Tours

Bryan C. Keene, assistant curator of manuscripts, the J. Paul Getty Museum, leads a gallery tour of the exhibition Traversing the Globe through Illuminated Manuscripts. Meet under the stairs in the Entrance Hall.
Wednesdays: January 27, February 10, March 30, April 27, May 25, June 22, 2:30 p.m.
Getty Center: Museum galleries

PERFORMANCES
Sounds of L.A.

An annual concert series that explores our city's varied musical geography, Sounds of L.A. celebrates the work of masters as well as up-and-coming musicians from around the globe. Drawing upon exhibition images and exploring themes such as “cultures in contact,” and “religious exchanges,” this series features Iranian vocalist Mamak Khadem, fado singer António Zambujo with Galician duo Uxía & Narf, and Austin-based ensemble Riyaaz Qawwali.
All performances, Getty Center: Harold M. Williams Auditorium

Mamak Khadem
Saturday, February 13, 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, February 14, 4:00 p.m.

Uxía & Narf and António Zambujo
Saturday, March 12, 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 13, 4:00 p.m.

Riyaaz Qawwali
Saturday April 9, 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 10, 4:00 p.m.

IRIS GETTY BLOG

PUBLICATIONS

MOBILE TOUR

Free GettyGuide® Multimedia Player

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Hear readings of medieval manuscripts from around the globe, spoken or sung in the languages in which they were written. Pick up a multimedia player free of charge in the Museum Entrance Hall.

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