Symbols and Signs: Decoding Medieval Manuscripts

Exhibition

Names Written in Superimposed Letters in Model Book of Calligraphy (detail), 1561-62, George Bocskay. Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink. Getty Museum, Ms. 20 (86.MV.527), fol. 90

Explore the mysterious world of medieval codes through manuscripts. Learn about the clever configurations of textual and visual elements that medieval scribes and artists deliberately and playfully employed to arrest the attention of readers and engage their minds in deciphering divine and worldly secrets. Intricately interwoven letters, puzzling monograms, cryptic symbols, and more await to be decoded.

This exhibition is presented in English and Spanish. Esta exhibición se presenta en inglés y en español.

May 20–Aug 10, 2025

Getty Center

Museum North Pavillion, Plaza Level

Free

All exhibitions are included in your free, timed-entry reservation to Getty. Reservations are available six weeks in advance. Please note, there is a fee for parking.

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Selected Works

  • Names Written in Superimposed Letters from Model Book of Calligraphy

    1561–62, George Bocskay. Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment. Getty Museum, Ms. 20 (86.MV.527), fol. 90

    Names written in superimposed letters on a gold decorated page of a calligraphy book.

  • Decorated Incipit Page from Psalter

    About 1240–1250, German. Tempera colors, gold leaf, and silver leaf on parchment. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig VIII 2 (83.MK.93), fol.12

  • Decorated Text Page from Rothschild Pentateuch

    1296, French or German. Tempera colors, gold, and ink on parchment. Getty Museum. Acquired with the generous support of Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, Ms. 116 (2018.43), fol. 486v

  • Text Page with Monograms, from Gospel Book

    About 826–838, German. Tempera colors on parchment. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig II 1, (83.MB.65), fol. 3v

  • The Pietà, from Book of Hours

    about 1460, Italian. Tempera colors, gold, and ink on parchment. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig IX 12 (83.ML.108), fol. 352v

  • Canon Table Page from Gospel Book

    1615, Mesrop of Khizan. Tempera colors, gold paint, and gold leaf on glazed paper. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig II 7 (83.MB.71), fol. 10

  • Lunar Sentence I (Maquette)

    1978, Leandro Katz. Gelatin silver print. Getty Museum. Purchased with funds provided by the Photographs Council. © Leandro Katz

    Six prints that form a single work of art, consisting of several sentences typed using images of lunar phases in place of letters.

Related Events

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Publications

The Stammheim Missal

$20/£16.99
Learn more about this publication

Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta

A Sixteenth-Century Calligraphic Manuscript Inscribed by Georg Bocskay and Illuminated by Joris Hoefnagel
$85/£75
Learn more about this publication

Exhibition Resources

  1. Decoding Medieval Manuscripts

    Video playlist

    Watch three animations that reveal how scribes and artists used clever design to communicate ideas and messages, both sacred and worldly

  2. Art Break: Cracking a Medieval Code - The Mystery of the Voynich Manuscript

    Video

  3. Symbols & Signs: Decoding Medieval Manuscripts Gallery Text

    PDF

  4. To request a checklist of this exhibition, please contact: manuscripts@getty.edu

    Exhibition checklist