Getty Museum Acquires a Rare, 700-Year-Old Torah

LOS ANGELES — The Getty Museum has long been a destination for fans of illuminated manuscripts, with a trove including Christian prayer books from the Middle Ages. Now it also owns a rare Jewish illuminated manuscript from 1296, known as the Rothschild Pentateuch.

“This is the most spectacular medieval Hebrew manuscript that’s come to market in over a century — it’s unusual at this late stage in the development of collections to find something like this not already owned by a major museum,” said the Getty Museum’s director, Timothy Potts, who finalized the acquisition last month. “It’s the greatest example of its kind.”