Remembering Antiquity: The Ancient World through Medieval Eyes

Featuring illuminated manuscripts and antiquities from the Getty Museum’s collection, this exhibition explores medieval responses to the classical world. For over a millennium following the fall of Rome, the culture of antiquity was remembered, performed, and preserved through visual arts, ceremony, and monastic book culture. At the hands of medieval authors, the narratives of ancient rulers and mythic heroes were adapted and embellished for inclusion in religious texts. People saw themselves as part of a rich classical heritage that was sustained and transmitted through the work of medieval artisans.