Exhibition "Golden Picture Worlds" - Julia Bangert

Julia Bangert presents manuscript illumination between the Middle Ages and the present. Opening on Saturday, 25 April 2026 at 2 pm. Exhibition runs until 31 October 2026. Julia Bangert works for the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, where she hand-decorates reprints of the famous Gutenberg Bible – available in the museum shop – with manuscript illumination and gold leaf, based on original models. She also works as a freelance manuscript illuminator, designing individually crafted initials, artistically embellished opening letters, and animal depictions. Inspired by historical models, she creates her own works in the medieval style as well as in a contemporary style. In the exhibition, she presents a series of manuscripts featuring texts about animals in the style of a medieval bestiary. Originally a moralizing literary form, the bestiary combines the characteristics of animals and mythical creatures with Christian teachings of salvation. The artist offers insights into her creative process, showing step by step how manuscript illuminations come to life. Alongside this, she presents reproductions of pages from the Gutenberg Bible that she has illuminated herself. Admission to the museum.