Getty shows medieval masterwork

The “Belles Heures” of the Duke of Berry -- a prime example of French medieval manuscript illumination and a highly prized possession of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York -- will be on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum from Nov. 18 to Feb. 8.

And thanks to the Met’s recent publication of a facsimile edition and related conservation work, which required dissembling the sumptuously illustrated prayer book, visitors will be able to see much more than two pages, as is customary in exhibitions of bound manuscripts.

The Getty plans to display about half of the 180 pages, commissioned by the French duke and richly illustrated by Franco-Netherlandish masters Paul, Herman and Jean de Limbourg in the early 15th century.

The Met will mount its own “Belles Heures” exhibition in fall 2009 before rebinding the book.