"Illuminated" Sacred Text at the Rubin Museum of Art, NYC

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Tahlib

Tibetan Manuscript with Twelve Illuminations (detail); 17th century; pigments on paper;
Rubin Museum of Art, purchased from the collection of Navin Kumar, New York

NEW YORK --- My office is only a few blocks away, so I enjoy visiting the Rubin Museum of Art (especially on "free" Friday nights for cocktails) but this time I went to see "Illuminated: The Art of Sacred Texts" featuring adorned sacred books of Tibetan. While well aware of illuminated books from Christianity and Islam, this was my first experience with this eastern version, and it's not very different. Artist-monks used gold, silver, and other precious materials to adorn the devotion texts as they attempted to heighten the spiritual experience. Now that my lunch visit is over, I'll be back in a few hours for the cocktails.