Details from Miscellany: Descriptions of Planets, Zodiacs, and Comets , shortly after 1464, German. Watercolor and ink on paper. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig XII 8 (83.MO.137.

Medieval Europeans believed that the movements of the sun, moon, stars, and planets directly affected their lives on earth. The position of these celestial bodies had the power to not only influence individual personalities, but also created the seasonal conditions ideal for a variety of tasks from planting crops to bloodletting. Exploring the 12 signs of the zodiac still familiar to us today, this exhibition reveals the mysteries of medieval astrology as it intersected with medicine, divination, and daily life in the Middle Ages.

October 1, 2024–January 5, 2025, GETTY CENTER

The Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Stars , from Northumberland Bestiary , about 1250–60, English. Pen-and-ink drawings tinted with body color and translucent washes on patchment. Getty Museum, Ms.100 (2007.16), fol. 2v.

Zodiac Skeleton, from Book of Hours, 1508, French. Woodcut. Getty Research Institute, 85-B20755, p.7.

May , from Psalter, about 1250-75, Swiss. Tempera colors and gold leaf on patchment. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig VIII 3 (83.MK.94), fol. 3v.

July, from Miscellany: Descriptions of Planets, Zodiacs, and Comets, shortly after 1464, German. Watercolor and ink on paper. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig XII 8 (83.MO.137), fol. 52v.

Constellation Diagram for Leo, from Poeticon astronomicon, 1485, C. Julius Hyginus. Woodcut. Getty Research Institute, 84-B28210, c3.

October; Sowing , from Book of Hours , about 1440–50, Workshop of the Bedford Master. Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink on patchment. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig IX 6 (83.ML.102), fol. 10