Exhibition "Golden Worlds of Pictures" - 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-illuminates the reprints of the famous Gutenberg Bible available in their shop with manuscript painting and gilding based on original models. Alongside this, she works as a freelance manuscript illuminator, designing individually crafted initials, ornately decorated letters, and animal depictions. Inspired by historical models, she creates her own works both in the medieval style and in a contemporary style.

The exhibition features a series of manuscripts with texts about animals in the style of a medieval bestiary. The bestiary is originally a moralizing literary form that connects the characteristics of animals and mythical creatures with Christian doctrine of salvation.

The artist offers insights into her creative process, showing step by step how manuscript illuminations are created. She also presents reproductions of pages from the Gutenberg Bible that she has illuminated herself.

Museum admission