The Facts
On September 29, 2026, the Getty Museum announced 'The Making of a Medieval Manuscript,' an exhibition at the Getty Center in Los Angeles that traces how raw materials such as sheepskin, gold, and minerals were transformed into illuminated books. On view through March 14, 2027, the show is organized into four sections—Parchment Making, Writing, Illuminating, and Binding—and features manuscripts created from about 500 to 1500 across Europe and the Mediterranean. Highlights include a 9th-century Qur'an written in gold, a 1469 Prayer Book of Charles the Bold illuminated by Nicolas Spierinc, and an unfinished page revealing the artist's process. The exhibition also displays tools such as quill pens, gold leaf, and a parchment knife, plus a signed binding by Flemish bookbinder Lievin Stuvaert.
The Signal
The exhibition foregrounds the physical labor and material sophistication behind medieval books, a dimension often lost in digital reproductions. For artists and collectors, the display of an unfinished page and a signed binding offers rare insight into the division of labor among scribes, illuminators, and bookbinders—and the value placed on these objects, which were sometimes chained to shelves to prevent theft. It positions the Getty's manuscript holdings as a resource for understanding craft traditions that connect medieval workshops to contemporary book arts.
- Artists: Nicolas Spierinc, Rohan Master
- People: Lievin Stuvaert, Florentius of Valeránica
- Museums: Getty Museum
- Locations: Los Angeles
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