A 9th-Century Star Search at the Getty

Aquarius, the water carrier, pours a stream of gold stars from his bucket. The celestial bodies make Leo’s mane sparkle and the Big and Little Dippers shimmer.

Bringing new meaning to the idea of artistic illumination, the J. Paul Getty Museum is exhibiting 9th-Century illuminated manuscripts that depict the constellations, as identified in ancient times, rendered with small gold-leaf “stars,” and a painted portrait of the god or hero that each heavenly configuration represents.

“The artist has made the stars come to life through these images just as the original sailors and astronomers first assigned personalities and identities to the stars long ago,” said Thomas Kren, Getty manuscripts curator.

The artworks are from the Leiden Aratea, a 9th-Century French manuscript based on the Phaenomena of Aratus, a seminal astronomical treatise written by Aratus, a Greek poet who lived from 314 to 245 BC. A “major monument” of the Carolingian Empire, or the period of Charlemagne’s rule, they reflect the era’s cultural reformation, one of renewed interest in ancient art and scholarship. All 39 miniature illuminations are simply rendered in the illusionistic style of classical painting.

“The loose brush work, the modeling of the figures with white highlighting and the ruddy color of the skin and are all found in ancient painting,” Kren said. “Some of the figures’ poses derive ultimately from Greek sculpture and painting.”

All 12 signs of the zodiac are shown, as are the constellations of Orion, Cassiopeia, Andromeda and the arrangement of the planets as they were aligned on March 28 in the year 579.

“The exhibit is great fun because it’s a subject that people are interested in,” Kren said. “Where else can you find 9th-Century paintings of Aquarius and the other signs of the zodiac? It’s fascinating to think that for more than a millennium, people have thought in these (astrological) terms.

“This also teaches us something fundamental about the Carolingian culture--about the general outlook in favor of antiquity, and about Carolinian science and astronomy, literature and painting.”

The Leiden Aratea was lent to the Getty by the University Library at Leiden, the Netherlands. The exhibit, “The Leiden Aratea: Ancient Constellations in a Medieval Manuscript,” runs through Dec. 31.

“Soviet Art, 1920s--1930s” (Harry N. Abrams, Inc.: 254 pages) was designed as a catalogue for an exhibition of Russian Avant Garde works recently opened at the Russian Museum in Leningrad. Works by more than 30 artists and artists groups are pictured in color. The plates range from a propagandistic painting of 1921 by Natan Altman of the Union of Youth to Piotr Williams’ Impressionistic “Woman in a Window” of the 1930s.

With new floors, improved lighting and plush velvet, the space housing the Arabella Huntington Memorial Collection at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens has recently reopened after being closed a year for renovations. The works in the collection, reinstalled for better viewing, include 18th-Century French sculpture and furniture, Sevres ornamental vases and Italian and Flemish Renaissance paintings.

The Long Beach Museum of Art launches its first artist-in-residence program this month with a series of free workshops on how to make handmade books. Led by artist Sue Ann Robinson, the workshops, continuing through June, are open to the public. Information: (213) 439-2119.