Medieval Mindscapes now on view at the Walters

The intimate display is the latest in the museum’s series of rare books and manuscripts exhibitions

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Baltimore, MD (March 11, 2026)–The Walters Art Museum announced today the opening of Medieval Mindscapes, a manuscript exhibition that explores the ways books of hours used innovative visual strategies to engage the imagination of the user through immediate, immersive experiences. Curated from the Walters’ renowned collection of rare books and manuscripts, the display features 22 works and is on view on Level 3 of the museum’s Centre Street building through August 23, 2026. 

Books of hours contained daily prayers, and their images provided an opportunity for intimate interactions with art in service of the user’s Christian faith in medieval Europe. These books helped those that engaged with them to build a private devotional world by encouraging imaginative interaction with the scenes depicted in their personalized, portable manuscripts. Some books were embedded with custom portraits of their owners to encourage the user to picture themselves in the moments included, while others used visual illusions in the margins to help the user discern the interplay between their physical reality and the spiritual world.

“These books were crafted to really involve their owners in handling them and thinking about their imagery. It wasn’t passive looking; it was an active process,” said Lauren Maceross, Zanvyl Krieger Curatorial Fellow, Rare Books and Manuscripts. “This exhibition puts an emphasis on the way books of hours engaged users’ imaginations. As a universal human capability, this creative mental play is timeless, and provides a bridge that connects these books’ medieval readers to our audience today. What visitors learn in this exhibition may even inspire their own creativity!”

Works on view include three 15th-century books of hours that originated in Belgium. The first depicts the female patron who commissioned and owned it in an image of the Annunciation, where an angel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would miraculously give birth to the son of God. In the scene, the owner has cast herself as the main character with clothing and posture that suggest she is aspiring to follow Mary’s virtuous example, which may also suggest her hope for fertility. In the second image, a remarkably lifelike rosary made of gold, coral, and pearl wraps around the text, suggesting that its owner might have held similar prayer beads while engaging in his private devotion. A smiling, fleshy skeleton is depicted in the third picture, offering an unexpectedly chilling presence. Likely a personification of death, the skeleton seems eerily aware of the viewer, confronting them with a mirror and compelling them to contemplate their fate by imagining themselves in its reflection. 

The Walters Art Museum’s collection of rare books and manuscripts chronicles the art of the book over more than 2,000 years from ancient to modern times through almost a thousand illuminated manuscripts, over 1,300 of the first printed books (ca. 1455–1500), and an important collection of nearly 2,000 rare post-1500 tomes. The manuscripts collection features works from across the globe, including deluxe Gospel books from Armenia, Ethiopia, Byzantium, and Ottonian Germany, French and Flemish books of hours, as well as masterpieces of Safavid, Mughal and Ottoman manuscript illumination. The printed book collection includes important first printed editions of ancient texts by great thinkers such as Aristotle and Euclid, a diary written by Napoleon, and an intricate binding crafted by Tiffany.

Medieval Mindscapes is curated by Lauren Maceross, Zanvyl Krieger Curatorial Fellow, Rare Books and Manuscripts.

This installation is generously funded by Supporters of the Walters Art Museum. To make a contribution toward this exhibition, please consider making a gift today.

About the Walters Art Museum

The Walters Art Museum is a cultural hub in the heart of Baltimore, located in the city’s Mount Vernon neighborhood. The museum’s collection spans more than seven millennia, from 5,000 BCE to the 21st century, and encompasses 36,000 objects from around the world. Walking through the museum’s historic buildings, visitors encounter a stunning panorama of thousands of years of art, from romantic 19th-century images of French gardens to mesmerizing Ethiopian icons, richly illuminated Qur’ans and Gospel books, ancient Roman sarcophagi, and serene images of the Buddha. Since its founding, the Walters mission has been to bring art and people together to create a place where people of every background can be touched by art. As part of this commitment, admission to the museum and special exhibitions is always free.

Admission to the museum is free. The Walters Art Museum is located at 600 N. Charles St., north of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. For general museum information, call 410-547-9000 or visit thewalters.org.

Free admission to the Walters Art Museum is made possible through the combined generosity of individual members and donors, foundations, corporations, and grants from the City of Baltimore, Maryland State Arts Council, Citizens of Baltimore County, Howard County Government, and Howard County Arts Council.