LOS ANGELES, CA.- The term “Gothic” evokes visions of soaring spires, graceful flying buttresses, and sparkling stained glass. It also represents an important style of manuscript illumination that dominated the High Middle Ages in Europe. Drawing primarily from the Getty Museum’s permanent collection, Gothic Grandeur: Manuscript Illumination, 1200–1350, on display December 13, 2011–May 13, 2012, at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, celebrates the achievements of Gothic manuscript illumination in Europe. The exhibition also spotlights two new acquisitions: the Abbey Bible, considered a pinnacle of Gothic illumination, and a previously unknown German leaf from a superb Apocalypse manuscript. “Western Europe in the thirteenth century underwent dramatic social and