Bracelet, Period: Late Roman circa: about 379 – 395 A.D., Materials: Gold, emeralds, sapphires, and glass, Dimensions: 2.8 × 5.8 cm (1 1/8 × 2 1/4 in.). The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
Illuminated Manuscript: The Byzantine Emperor Welcoming Roussillon and Martel. Period: Post Byzantine. Written: 1463 – 1465; Illuminated: 1467 – 1472. Artist/Maker: Loyset Liédet (Flemish, active about 1448 – 1478) and Pol Fruit (Flemish, active about 1468).
Museum Description: “Richly dressed in an ermine-collared cloak and magnificent crown, the Byzantine emperor emerges from the city of Constantinople on a white horse, surrounded by members of his court. A religious procession, including a group of clerics singing from open books, precedes him. The emperor appears again in the background at the right, this time greeting the Europeans who disembark from their boat after their long journey. As the rubric just below the miniature explains, in the 800s Girart de Roussillon and Charles Martel went to assist the Emperor of Constantinople in his battles with the Saracens. When Loyset Liédet painted this miniature in the 1400s, the subject had a special resonance: the recent Turkish capture of Constantinople in 1453 recalled the Saracen incursions and prompted calls for European crusaders to rescue the city.”
The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
The Descent into Limbo, Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 13th century. Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.) Place: Nicaea, Modern Turkey (Place created).
Museum Description: “After his Crucifixion and before his Resurrection, Christ freed worthy Bible figures from limbo (an event known as the Anastasis in Greek). Here Christ pulls Adam by the wrist out of the tomb and toward the Kingdom of Heaven, while Abel, Eve, John the Baptist, King Solomon, and King David await their salvation. The two kings are dressed in the jeweled crowns and embroidered cloaks of Byzantine emperors.”
The collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum comprises Greek, Roman, and Etruscan art from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity; European art—including illuminated manuscripts, paintings, drawings, sculpture, and decorative arts—from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century; and international photography from its inception to the present day.
The Last Supper, Period: Late Byzantine; circa: 13th century, Place: Nicaea, Modern Turkey. (created) Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.).
The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
The Entry into Jerusalem, Period: Late Byzantince circa: 13 th century. Place (created): Nicaea (Modern Iznik, Turkey, Anatolia). Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.). Materials: Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
Saint Mark. Period: Late Byzantine circa: late 13th century. Place: Constantinople (Place created) Dimensions: Leaf: 21 × 14.9 cm (8 1/4 × 5 7/8 in.). Museum Description: “Saint Mark pauses, quill in hand, as he writes his account of the life of Christ. This portrait of the saint as author introduces his Gospel in a Greek manuscript of the late 1200s. An inscription in red on the gold leaf background identifies the saint by name. ” The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
Saint Luke, Manuscript. Period: Late Byzantine; circa: late 13th century. Place (created): Constantinople.
Dimensions: Leaf: 21 × 14.9 cm (8 1/4 × 5 7/8 in.) The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
The Agony in the Garden, Manuscript, Period: Late Byzantine; circa: 1200 to 1299 A.D. Place: Nicaea. (Modern Turkey) Material: Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment bound between wood boards covered with light brown velvet. Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.)
Museum Description: “Placed within the Gospel of Matthew, the full-page miniature of the Agony in the Garden represents one of the more powerfully emotional moments in Jesus’ Passion. After the Passover meal, Jesus and his apostles retire to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus foretells Saint Peter’s betrayal. Jesus then asks his closest disciples to stay awake with him, but later, while he prays, the apostles fall asleep.
The artist represents Jesus twice in the miniature: once confronting Peter at the bottom of the image and then praying above. Jesus’ feelings of isolation and abandonment as he prays are expressed visually by his physical separation not only from the apostles but also from the angel shown behind him. Against the hilly landscape, the apostles huddle together in their sleep, their bodies forming a mound almost as large as the mountain itself. The crisp folds of their garments are made of embedded geometric forms that echo the shape of the rocks at the top of the mountain.“
The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
The Annunciation, Manuscript. Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 13th century. Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.). Place: Nicaea, Medium: Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment. (Modern Iznik, Turkey). The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
Saint Luke, Manuscript, Period: Late Byzantine circa: early 13th century. Place: Nicomedia (Modern Izmit, Anatolia, Turkey) Materials: Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment. Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.) Museum Description: “Before the Gospel of Saint Luke, the illuminator placed a portrait of the evangelist. Seated in an elaborate throne with his book open on his knees, Luke writes his Gospel, his account of Jesus’ life and teachings. The tradition of including author portraits in manuscripts began in antiquity; by the thirteenth century, the inclusion of portraits of the evangelists in Gospel books had become quite common. ”
The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
Saint John the Evangelist Dictating, Manuscript, Period: Late Byzantine; circa: 1200 to 1225. Place: Nicomedia (Modern Izmit, Turkey) Materials: Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment. Dimensions: Leaf: 20.6 × 14.9 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.) The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.
Bracelet, Period: Late Roman circa: 379 – 395 A.D. Medium: Gold. Dimensions: 1.4 × 6.3 cm (9/16 × 2 1/2 in.) Museum Description: “A simple gold band with plain flanged edges forms this openwork bracelet. A vegetal scroll weaves across the surface of the band, into which hunting scenes are inserted. On one side a hound chases a stag, while on the other a hound pursues a hare. ”
The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally.