Admission to the Getty Center is FREE. No tickets or reservations are required for general admission. For visitor information, see information on planning a visit or call (310) 440-7300. All events are free, unless otherwise noted. Reservations are required for performances, lectures, seminars, and courses.

Lecture

A World Alongside: Images in the Margins of Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts
At the edges of medieval art lies a world of inviting images surprisingly at odds with the solemnity of their settings—such as gargoyles that inhabit church and cathedral rooflines. In this lecture, Margot McIlwain Nishimura from the Rhode Island School of Design introduces a varied mix of fantastic, real, and whimsical characters that populate the margins of medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts. Free.

Studio Courses

Master Class: Gold Gilding
Medieval and Renaissance artists embellished manuscripts with shimmering leaves of hammered gold and fine, gold pigment. Join artist Sylvana Barrett for this day-long master class and explore historic techniques of raised, burnished water gilding as well as flat, mat, and embellished techniques drawn from historic treatises. Course fee $145, materials provided. Open to 20 participants.
Course repeats December 12.

Master Class: Manuscript Illumination
Manuscript illumination was practiced and refined by artists from the early medieval period into the High Renaissance and beyond. Join artist Sylvana Barrett in this day-long master class and explore the delicate art of illumination and miniature painting utilizing dry ground pigments, historic binders, and handmade parchment. Course fee $145, materials provided. Open to 20 participants.
Course repeats January 16, 2010.

Initial P: A Funeral Service (detail) from a breviary, French, about 1320–1325

Talks

Curator's Gallery Talks
Kristen Collins, associate curator of Manuscripts, leads a gallery talk on the exhibition. Meet under the stairs in the Museum Entrance Hall. Free: no reservations required.

Thursday, September 17, 2:30 p.m.
Museum Galleries

GettyGuide™ Audio Player

A curious phenomenon occurred in the late Middle Ages, when invented creatures and odd specimens of nature inhabited the pages of illuminated manuscripts. Hear experts explain the development of marginal motifs. Pick up an audio player in the Museum Entrance Hall.