Decode Medieval Manuscripts in New Getty Exhibition
Exhibition explores the mysterious world of codes through manuscripts
Names Written in Superimposed Letters from Model Book of Calligraphy, 1561 – 1562, Georg Bocskay. Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment. Leaf: 6 9/16 × 4 7/8 in. Getty Museum, Ms. 20 (86.MV.527), fol. 90.
Body Content
The J. Paul Getty Museum presents Symbols and Signs: Decoding Medieval Manuscripts, an exhibition showcasing how medieval scribes and artists used textual and visual strategies to captivate readers and engage them in deciphering enigmatic codes.
The exhibition, drawn predominantly from the Getty’s manuscripts collection with additions from the Museum’s holdings in photographs, will be on view at the Getty Center from May 20 to August 10, 2025.
Medieval manuscripts were filled with “codes” such as monograms, ciphers, and visual symbols that fascinated those living during the Middle Ages. Codes can be defined as a system of words, letters, figures, or symbols substituted for other words, and only someone familiar with the system could correctly decode the information. Many were based on cultural references that audiences at the time could understand, similar to today’s use of emojis or text abbreviations.
“People today are fascinated by ciphers, puzzles, and secrets,” says Elizabeth Morrison, senior curator of manuscripts at the Getty Museum and co-curator of the exhibition. “This exhibition explores the clever ways that scribes and artists of the past deliberately and playfully employed such codes to arrest the attention of medieval audiences and engage their minds.”
The exhibition will be divided into three sections: word codes, image codes, and schematic codes. The first section, Word Codes, highlights how medieval manuscripts, written in familiar alphabets like Latin, Hebrew, or Armenian, often appear strange due to their intricate and imaginative design. These texts used abbreviations, monograms, and names as playful puzzles for medieval audiences.
Image Codes focuses on the visual arts from the Middle Ages, which employ abstract symbols, personal emblems, and selective colors to capture complex thoughts and hierarchies. These tactics were clear to medieval audiences but require some explanation for modern viewers to be able to understand.
Lastly, Schematic Codes explores how codes devised in the Middle Ages, such as musical notation, indexes, and calendars, organize complex information visually, a solution invaluable in modern life as well. Medieval scribes and artists strove to make codes enjoyable for the mind and the eye.
“Codes were and continue to be integral parts of everyday life,” says Orsolya Mednyanszky, assistant curator of manuscripts at the Getty Museum and co-curator of the exhibition. “Our hope with the exhibition is to showcase both medieval and contemporary works that bring awareness to the similarities and differences between the visual and textual conventions of the Middle Ages and present day.”
Fragment, late 14th century, shortly after 1386, Unknown Artist. Pen and black ink and tempera, 8 3/8 × 6 in. Getty Museum, 83.MO.136.fragment.
Lunar Sentence I (Maquette), 1978, Leandro Katz. Gelatin silver print, Image: 10 3/8 × 13 1/4 in.; Framed [outer dim]: 36 × 31 × 2 in. Getty Museum, 2016.26.2.
The exhibition will feature three contemporary photographers’ works juxtaposed with three medieval manuscripts in each section. Lunar Sentence I (Maquette) by Leandro Katz will be on view alongside the Cistercian Number and Alphabet System, which display examples of “substitution” alphabets, where symbols replace letters. Photographs from Irving Penn’s Small Trades series and Alfred Stieglitz’s Songs of the Sky and Equivalents series will also be displayed with corresponding manuscripts.
Symbols and Signs: Decoding Medieval Manuscripts is co-curated by Orsolya Mednyanszky, assistant curator of manuscripts, and Elizabeth Morrison, senior curator of manuscripts at the Getty Museum.
To complement the exhibition, Getty will host an online conversation about the Voynich Manuscript with Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis on June 13 at noon.