On view September 20, 2013–February 2, 2014
Starting on Friday is an important new exhibition at the Getty Museum, titled: Canterbury and St. Albans: Treasures from Church and Cloister. The exhibit features two masterpieces of medieval English art – the St. Albans Psalter, a splendidly illuminated manuscript, and monumental stained glass windows from the famed Canterbury Cathedral. These 12th-century works of art NEVER travel and to be able to see them in a museum context is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The glass windows from Canterbury Cathedral are more than 800 years old and, understandably, very rarely travel. Most of them have never before been taken from the Cathedral grounds. The Getty is able to show these stunning windows because of conservation work on the architectural framing and once they return to England (after a stop in New York) they’ll be permanently re-installed in the Cathedral. The Psalter has been temporarily unbound for study but will be bound again soon.
Uniting monumental glass painting with the art of book illumination, this presentation reveals how specific texts, prayers, and environments shaped the medieval viewer’s understanding of these pictures during the era of artistic renewal following the Norman Conquest of England.
For more details visit the Getty website at: www.getty.edu
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