• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Tuesday, April 30, 1996

Luscious colors and striking images decorate a collection of manuscripts from the Getty Museum's rich collection. Their new exhibit, "Ten Centuries of French Illumination," puts the middle ages on display.By Elizabeth Bull

Daily Bruin Contributor

With gnarled lettering, deep purple dye and a shining silver and gold border, an open book greets visitors at the Getty Museum's exhibit of French illuminations.

Made for Robert the Pious by Nivardus of Milan in the first quarter of the 11th century, the medieval liturgical service book took months to create ­ a testament to the original meaning behind books.

"It's astounding to us that someone would go to so much effort for a book because we live in a throw-away culture where things are pretty disposable," says Diana Goodwin, an intern and curator at the museum.

"In the past the book wasn't the same thing, though, that it is in our world today. It was a very precious and valuable and sacred thing and these illuminations show that."

The J.Paul Getty Museum's "Ten Centuries of French Illumination" features 26 illuminations and manuscripts from the permanent Getty collection. Dating from 845 to 1730 C.E., each tells a story about French history, religion and culture.

Illuminations were popular among the French aristocracy during the 10th century and became lavish records of religious ritual and society. Before their demise following the French Revolution, a whole organized system centered around the manuscripts existed in Paris.

Goodwin, a graduate student in medieval art at the University of Michigan, assembled the works featured in the exhibition and chose how to display the different manuscripts.

"It's a great opportunity to work with something that people actually used in an everyday context," Goodwin says. "They are very personal objects because I can imagine people actually holding the book, turning the pages and reading it much the same way we would today."

But, along with the perks in overseeing an exhibition, Goodwin also experienced difficulties because of the limitations that come with such fragile and ancient manuscripts.

"It's too bad that they're shut in cases so that you have to stand back and look from afar because to really get a feel for a manuscript or any book you have to hold it and actually use it," she says. "There's a distance from the books but as the curator what I do is try to convey some of the experience of actually using the manuscripts."

"St. Jerome in Penitence" from the Epistles of St. Paul is one of her favorite liturgical illuminations. Made in Tours around the year 1520, it depicts a rich mixture of gold borders, colorful painting and decorative script. In it, Goodwin finds the depth of emotion that draws her to the manuscripts.

"It's an exquisite painting that is beautifully crafted. The quality of the landscape, and the devotional intensity of the character is so powerfully contained," she explains.

Other books include bestiaries and secular books like the "Roman de la Rose" from Paris in 1405, an allegorical poem with romantic and colorful illustrations.

The manuscripts also vary by region and time and differ in their uses ­ some were used solely by the aristocracy and others by the church.

In a gothic book of hours from northern France dating from 1270, the initial "D" becomes the center of the illumination, decorated with tendrils and illustrations of angels and jousting knights. Made from dark oranges, blues and gold, it has the mystery and balance that Goodwin believes embodies the gothic period.

"Aesthetically, the gothic style really appeals to me and I would like the visitors to get this aesthetic appreciation for the art in the medieval period as well as an interest in the culture of the time - the culture that produced the books," Goodwin says. "I want them to take away a sense of beauty but I also want them to learn something about the middle ages."

One of the most creative and original illuminations, "The Flight into Egypt," comes from a 1420 Book of Hours. Decorated with primary colors and golden flecks, its illustration tells the story of Mary and Joseph running from Herod's soldiers. But instead of simply chronologically reproducing the story, the anonymous artist used a fanciful scale to show time and extended his drawings into the border and text of the manuscript.

"The most striking thing about 'Flight into Egypt' is that it is so innovative and so creative in the way the artist treats the subject matter and the page," Goodwin says.

The way illuminators used space and words to create decorative books caused what Goodwin describes as an "interaction" between the reader and artist ­ and she believes such an interaction is what sets these books apart from other artwork from the same period.

"These illuminations are not the same as a painting that hangs on the wall and is so static," she says. "I think of a book as being a little more dynamic ­ you engage it more because you read it, handle it and come back to it. It takes on life."

The Getty owns many other illuminations from Italy, Germany and the Netherlands which rotate four times a year in regional and thematic exhibitions. This exhibit, showing French illuminations, concentrates on the differences between French regions and timespan.

"This period of history is fascinating," Goodwin explains. "It's hard to imagine because it is so far away from our own time ­ so there's a sense of mystery. Viewing manuscripts is a way to sort of tap into that history and hopefully learn more about our own cultural path.

"I just hope that people will take away that sense of the difference between modern and medieval times ­ and an appreciation for that difference. I think the average person will be struck by the uniqueness of these books."

ART: "Ten Centuries of French Illumination" at the J. Paul Getty Museum from April 23 to July 7. Admission and parking is free but call (310) 458-2003 for reservations.

Detail and inset: A page from the book, "The Fall of the Angels" Jacques Legrand, Le Livre de Bonnes Moeurs (The Book of Good Manners); Avignon, circa 1430, on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Photos by Shawn Laksmi.