Astronomers on Mount Athos (detail), in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, about 1400–1425, Master of the Mandeville Travels. Tinted ink on parchment. The British Library Collection, Add. 24189, fol. 15. Image © The British Library Board
Lumen: The Art and Science of Light
GETTY CENTER
Upcoming, September 10 - December 8
Exhibitions Pavilion
Free
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Medieval artists created dazzling light-filled environments with gold, crystal, and glass evoking the layered realms of the divine. Long associated with divinity, light also occupied a central place in scientific inquiry. Today we tend to separate science from religion, but for medieval people these disciplines were firmly intertwined. Focusing on the arts of western Europe, this exhibition explores the ways that the science of light was studied by Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers, theologians, and artists during the “Long Middle Ages” (800–1600). To convey the sense of wonder created by moving light on precious materials, several contemporary artworks are placed in dialogue with historic objects. Special installations by Helen Pashgian and Charles Ross extend Lumen throughout the Museum.