SOUL FOOD:Artistry and spiritualism at the Getty

If you’ve had your fill of big-box warehouse appetizers, cheese balls, mulled cider, eggnog and sugar cookies and you’ve now got a yen for something to nourish your soul, two exhibits at the Getty Center might just hit the spot.

The Gospels in Medieval Manuscript Illumination — which offers a look at books, manuscripts and leaves, primarily from the museum’s own collection — is about to come to an end, but it can still be seen through Jan. 7.

The Catholic Encyclopedia calls the art of illumination “one of the most charming ever invented.” And, it notes, “Whereas most of the paintings of the Middle Ages have perished, these little works form an almost uninterrupted series which afford us a clear idea of the chief schools of painting of each epoch and each region.”

Here is a chance to see some exquisite examples of the art, with examples from the 900s to the 1200s, including portraits of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; illustrations of Christ; and the ornamentation of canon tables, some created by T’oros Roslin, the greatest master of medieval Armenian book illumination.

Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons From Sinai opened in mid-November and will continue through March 4. This exhibition provides a not-to-miss opportunity to view 52 Byzantine icons that have come to the Getty from the unrivaled collection housed and protected at the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai, where Christian monks have lived since the third century.

While countless religious images were shattered during the Iconoclasm of the eighth and ninth centuries, the icons at St. Catherine in Sinai remained unscathed as a result of the monastery’s physical and political distance from the Byzantine Empire.

In its desert location, arid and remote, its religious images have been singularly protected not only from the Iconoclasts, who viewed the portrayal of the sacred in religious art as idolatry and sought to wipe it out, but also from caustic natural elements. Today, St. Catherine is home to the world’s largest store of Byzantine icons, some of which are now on display at the Getty, away from home for the first time.

Between the Los Angeles exhibit and the Sinai monastery laid a journey of close to 8,000 miles. Museum curators, conservators and the monks of St. Catherine worked together for more than a year to assure the safe travel of the monastery’s art treasures.

Monks from St. Catherine’s accompanied the works on the journey and are staying in Los Angeles throughout the exhibition. Visitors can see them in the museum’s galleries, keeping an eye on their sacred charges.

In addition to the 52 icons brought to the Getty from the monastery, six manuscripts and four religious objects used in worship are also on display: a cross with scenes of Moses; a candelabrum with saints and mythical beasts; a late 10th- or 11th-century lamp stand; and an epitrachelion — a stole worn by a priest — with feast scenes.

The Getty regards the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai as “a living link to history.” It hopes that through the exhibit visitors will reach “a better understanding of the importance of [the] holy site” and gain “insight into how the objects on view are part of life at Saint Catherine’s monastery.”

The site of the monastery in Sinai, Egypt, is thought to be where Moses saw a bush burning but not consumed by fire, encountered God and received from him the Ten Commandments, as recorded in Exodus 3:1-5.

It is also believed to be the place where angels brought the body of St. Catherine of Alexandria, the Christian martyr for whom the monastery is named.

Christian pilgrims are known to have sought out the site from as early as the 2nd century, following the same passage as the Israelites did after fleeing slavery in Egypt.

The monastery itself and its fortifications were built by order of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the sixth century. In the desert climate and its isolation, it, like its artifacts, remains astonishingly unchanged and well preserved.

When they enter its 1,400-year-old doors, it looks much the same to contemporary pilgrims as it did to pilgrims of old. As the Getty notes, it sits “at the crossroads of three religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam” and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Its monks continue to live and worship much as they have for centuries. Many of the icons and religious objects currently on display at the Getty are still in use at the ancient monastery.

It holds a living history, a trove of icons and religious artifacts, as well as a library of some 3,500 manuscripts in 11 languages: Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Georgian, Slavonic, Latin, Hebrew, Coptic, Armenian, Polish and Ethiopian.

Short of making the pilgrimage to Sinai, Egypt, the Getty Center’s exhibit is as close as you could hope to get to what the monks call “the God-trodden Mount of Sinai.”

It’s a chance that would be a shame to miss.

I still hope to get to the Holy Monastery someday. I’ve come so very close at times, yet logistics won out and prevented the trip. Meanwhile, I plan to make it to the Getty Center exhibit sometime between Christmas and the New Year.

The website for the exhibit is itself very rich and deep. Start your exploration with the 9-minute video introduction to the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai, icons and Eastern Orthodox life and worship produced by the J. Paul Getty Museum and Lyn Goldfarb Productions Inc.

As one online visitor remarked on a segment of the website reserved for comments, “The online audio and video material really does this art justice by explaining the worship context in which the icons were created and still exist today.”

There are three other audio-visual presentations, as well. “Holy Image” looks at Iconoclasm and icons. “Holy Space” explains the role of icons in worship. “Holy Site” is about the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine.

Each features text accompanied by color illustrations, with incredible zoom and navigational features. Many have audio tracks.

A 320-page catalog for the exhibit, with 168 color, 47 black-and-white illustrations and two maps is available from the museum bookstore. If you visit the exhibit or the website, I’d enjoy hearing from you about your experience.

All the best for the New Year!