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THE CHRISTIAN GOSPELS AND THE FOUR EVANGELISTS COME ALIVE IN GETTY MUSEUM MANUSCRIPT EXHIBITION
States News Service
August 4, 2011 Thursday
MEDIEVAL GOSPEL ILLUMINATION AT THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM, GETTY CENTER
AUGUST 30NOVEMBER 27, 2011
The following information was released by the J. Paul Getty Trust:
The four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, among the most
well-known texts in the Bible, offer powerful accounts of the life of
Christ and form the basis of the religion that his disciples founded.
Drawing primarily from the Getty Museum's permanent collection,
"In the Beginning Was the Word": Medieval Gospel Illumination ,
on display August 30November 27, 2011, at the J. Paul Getty Museum,
Getty Center, examines the decoration associated with the Gospels,
including portraits of the four Evangelists, and explores the varied
approaches to illustrating the life of Christ.
"The Gospels were considered of paramount importance and were
richly decorated throughout the Middle Ages," says Kristen Collins,
associate curator of manuscripts. "With examples ranging from England
to Ethiopia, Byzantium, and Armenia, this exhibition traces the
tradition of Gospel illumination in Christian art and worship."
Spreading the teachings of the Gospels was an important feature
of early Christianity and, as a result, the Gospels were quickly
translated from Greek into the many spoken languages of the world.
This exhibition includes manuscripts produced between the ninth
century through the seventeenth century and in Western Europe,
Byzantium, Armenia, and Ethiopia. In spite of this vast chronological
and geographical breadth, the main aspects of illumination remained
relatively uniform. Gospels typically contained a portrait of each
of the four evangelists as well as decorated canon tables. In each
manuscript, however, subtle variations are clear, revealing distinct
regional inflections and hints of the visual cultures that produced
them. For example, on display in the exhibition is a canon table
illuminated in Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman
(Byzantine) Empire, which combines architectural motifs inherited
from Greco-Roman antiquity with a rich vegetal design inspired by
Islamic art. Ethiopian Gospel books often opened with images of the
Virgin and Child accompanied by rows of Old Testament prophets and
New Testament apostles, reflecting the importance of these figures
within Ethiopian Christian worship.
In the first two centuries, public reading of religious texts formed
the core of both Jewish and Christian worship. This tradition
persisted in the Medieval Christian church. Books made for this
purpose were venerated as sacred, along with the other furnishings of
a church's altar. Since few people in the Middle Ages were literate,
listening was the way most people received the information in the
Gospels. Excerpts from the Gospels were read aloud during daily
services and for particular feast days. Elaborately decorated and
embellished with gold, the manuscripts containing these important
texts had a ceremonial as well as a functional role in the services.
Later in the Middle Ages, with the rise of literacy, private prayer
books came to include readings from the Gospels.
In addition to portraits of their authors, Gospel books were often
illustrated with scenes from the life of Christ. Such pictures were
meant to make the books' text more easily understandable and to
emphasize its importance. Because the New Testament story was widely
familiar, people were normally able to follow a cycle of pictures
even without reading the accompanying text. For this reason, Gospel
picture cycles came to appear also in illustrated books other than
the Gospels proper, such as books for the Mass and personal prayer
books. On loan from the Young Research Library at UCLA is the Armenian
manuscript The Gladzor Gospels, which displays a suite of stunning and
unusual images illustrating the genealogy of Christ. Although Matthew
and Luke list the names of the ancestors of Christ in their Gospels,
this theme was rarely seen in manuscript illumination outside of the
Armenian tradition.
"In the Beginning Was the Word": Medieval Gospel Illumination is
curated by Kristen Collins, associate curator of manuscripts at the J.
Paul Getty Museum.
IMAGE AT TOP: Master of Sir John Fastolf (French, active before about
1420-about 1450). The Crucifixion and The Seven Last Words of Christ,
about 1430-1440. Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink on parchment. The
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. 5, fol. 16v.
From: Baghdasarian
States News Service
August 4, 2011 Thursday
MEDIEVAL GOSPEL ILLUMINATION AT THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM, GETTY CENTER
AUGUST 30NOVEMBER 27, 2011
The following information was released by the J. Paul Getty Trust:
The four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, among the most
well-known texts in the Bible, offer powerful accounts of the life of
Christ and form the basis of the religion that his disciples founded.
Drawing primarily from the Getty Museum's permanent collection,
"In the Beginning Was the Word": Medieval Gospel Illumination ,
on display August 30November 27, 2011, at the J. Paul Getty Museum,
Getty Center, examines the decoration associated with the Gospels,
including portraits of the four Evangelists, and explores the varied
approaches to illustrating the life of Christ.
"The Gospels were considered of paramount importance and were
richly decorated throughout the Middle Ages," says Kristen Collins,
associate curator of manuscripts. "With examples ranging from England
to Ethiopia, Byzantium, and Armenia, this exhibition traces the
tradition of Gospel illumination in Christian art and worship."
Spreading the teachings of the Gospels was an important feature
of early Christianity and, as a result, the Gospels were quickly
translated from Greek into the many spoken languages of the world.
This exhibition includes manuscripts produced between the ninth
century through the seventeenth century and in Western Europe,
Byzantium, Armenia, and Ethiopia. In spite of this vast chronological
and geographical breadth, the main aspects of illumination remained
relatively uniform. Gospels typically contained a portrait of each
of the four evangelists as well as decorated canon tables. In each
manuscript, however, subtle variations are clear, revealing distinct
regional inflections and hints of the visual cultures that produced
them. For example, on display in the exhibition is a canon table
illuminated in Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman
(Byzantine) Empire, which combines architectural motifs inherited
from Greco-Roman antiquity with a rich vegetal design inspired by
Islamic art. Ethiopian Gospel books often opened with images of the
Virgin and Child accompanied by rows of Old Testament prophets and
New Testament apostles, reflecting the importance of these figures
within Ethiopian Christian worship.
In the first two centuries, public reading of religious texts formed
the core of both Jewish and Christian worship. This tradition
persisted in the Medieval Christian church. Books made for this
purpose were venerated as sacred, along with the other furnishings of
a church's altar. Since few people in the Middle Ages were literate,
listening was the way most people received the information in the
Gospels. Excerpts from the Gospels were read aloud during daily
services and for particular feast days. Elaborately decorated and
embellished with gold, the manuscripts containing these important
texts had a ceremonial as well as a functional role in the services.
Later in the Middle Ages, with the rise of literacy, private prayer
books came to include readings from the Gospels.
In addition to portraits of their authors, Gospel books were often
illustrated with scenes from the life of Christ. Such pictures were
meant to make the books' text more easily understandable and to
emphasize its importance. Because the New Testament story was widely
familiar, people were normally able to follow a cycle of pictures
even without reading the accompanying text. For this reason, Gospel
picture cycles came to appear also in illustrated books other than
the Gospels proper, such as books for the Mass and personal prayer
books. On loan from the Young Research Library at UCLA is the Armenian
manuscript The Gladzor Gospels, which displays a suite of stunning and
unusual images illustrating the genealogy of Christ. Although Matthew
and Luke list the names of the ancestors of Christ in their Gospels,
this theme was rarely seen in manuscript illumination outside of the
Armenian tradition.
"In the Beginning Was the Word": Medieval Gospel Illumination is
curated by Kristen Collins, associate curator of manuscripts at the J.
Paul Getty Museum.
IMAGE AT TOP: Master of Sir John Fastolf (French, active before about
1420-about 1450). The Crucifixion and The Seven Last Words of Christ,
about 1430-1440. Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink on parchment. The
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. 5, fol. 16v.
From: Baghdasarian