Imagining Christ

On Sunday, after attending church, I went on a tour of some interesting parts of L.A. with some classmates who know the area well. The highlight of the day was certainly the Getty Center, a museum on a hill in Los Angeles. After a tram-ride from the parking structure to the museum, I was first struck by the architecture. I am not usually a fan of modern architecture but the Getty provided a definite exception. I was also struck by the views of the Los Angeles area. From the Getty you can see the mountains to the East, the Pacific with Catalina Island to the West, and the expanse of L.A. with various landmarks such as downtown and the UCLA campus in between. When we arrive we were greeted by a sign advertising an exhibit called "Imagining Christ." I was at first skeptical, thinking that it would be some kind of heretical new-age thing but this exhibit ended up being the most interesting part of the Getty experience for me. The exhibit consists of art picturing Christ from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The majority of the pieces were amazingly detailed illuminated manuscripts. As I looked in awe at these pieces I imagined the monk in the monastery, painstakingly tracing calligraphy and pictures with perfection. I was thankful to these monks who believed in the truth of the stories these manuscripts told and who contributed to the riches of what is Western Civilization.

I was most impressed with an illuminated manuscript of Augustine's City of God depicting the Trinity. I believe it was created around 1400. I expected the language to be Latin but according to the display, it was written in French.

A page from Augustine's City of God depicting the Trinity.

We stayed at the Getty until closing time, wandered around third street in Santa Monica and then got dinner in Hollywood before heading back to Loma Linda. It was a great day and it was good to finally see some of what L.A. has to offer.