GIVING AND RECEIVING LATEST GETTY EXHIBIT REVEALS THE HISTORY OF GIFT EXCHANGING AND HOW IT'S EVOLVED.

Byline: Marilee Reyes Staff Writer

People through the ages have always presented one another with gifts, either to mark a special occasion or just because they want to.

The Getty Museum explores the history of gift-giving in its exhibit ``The Art of Giving in the Middle Ages'' through Feb. 4. Twenty illuminated manuscripts from the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection explore the diverse meanings of gift giving in medieval and early modern-day society. The exhibit focuses on three themes: the models for giving found in scripture and the lives of the saints, the culture of giving in medieval society, and the gift of the book starting in the Middle Ages and beyond.

The Getty manuscripts on view originated in Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire from the 11th to the 16th centuries. Among the artists represented are Simon Bening, Gerard Horenbout, Simon Marmion and Taddeo Crivelli.

Gifts were an important part of ceremony and ritual in diplomacy in medieval Europe and within the church. At the diplomatic level, gifts secured allegiance and solidified ties among princes and high-ranking clergy. Within the church, wealthy Christians gave money, land or goods to religious institutions in return for prayers on behalf of the donor's soul. Illuminated manuscripts, with their rich colors and finely detailed artwork were among the most costly of gifts.

Among the items to be exhibited is a miniature from a German Psalter showing the presentation of gifts by the three wise men. The Christmas tradition is generally connected to the biblical story of the gifts of the Magis, the three wise men who visited the small stable in Bethlehem where the infant Jesus was born.

The real St. Nicholas, most closely tied to our contemporary holiday gift-giving, was the son of a well-to-do Christian family who lived in Asia Minor in the third century. He became the archbishop of the seaport town of Myra. He had much wealth and sought to distribute it among those in need, but heeded the biblical admonishing that anyone giving gifts to the poor not reveal themselves as the giver.

Perhaps the idea of Santa leaving gifts by coming down the chimney sprang from a story connected to St. Nicholas. Three young women wished to marry, but their father was poor, and they had no dowry. Hearing of their plight, St. Nicholas dropped three bags of gold down their chimney so that each woman could marry.

Gift-giving in the Middle Ages was modest. Fruits, cakes, nuts, dolls, toys, Bibles and useful items such as writing instruments were given.

Today, gift-giving continues full blown, but seldom do the gifts take the form of simple items such as the fruits, nuts and honey cakes of 2,500 years ago. Those would be found combined in the traditional holiday fruit cakes. Instead, gifts more than likely are the latest toy or techno- marvel, clothing, jewelry or gift certificates to the local Roman-themed day spa. Ah, the latter a gift fit for Caligula.

(Sources: ``4,000 Years of Christmas by Alice Lawson Count (Ulysses Press, 1998); ``Christmas Customs and Traditions (Taplinger Publishing, 1975); ``The Enchanted World of Christmas'' (Time Life Books).

``THE ART OF GIVING IN THE MIDDLE AGES''

Where: The Getty Museum, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles.

When: Through Feb. 4. Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Closed Mondays and major holidays.

Tickets: Museum entrance is free. Parking is $5 per car. Call [phone] in English or Spanish; TTY for deaf or hearing impaired, [phone].

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) ``The Adoration of the Magi,'' a miniature from a German psalter and made around 1240, depicts the three wise men presenting gifts to the baby Jesus, in delicate tempera and gold leaf on vellum. This and other images are part of the Getty's display, ``The Art of Giving in the Middle Ages.''

(2 -- color) Master of Sir John Fastolf's ``Saint Edward the Confessor'' served as a model for charitable giving during the 1400s.

(3 -- color) The ``Book of Deeds of Alexander the Great'' is accentuated with jewel-tone colors, gold leaf and paint, and bound between wood boards and covered with old red velvet.

(4 -- color) Anovelo da Imbonate's ``Legend of Saints Aimo and Vermondo,'' from 1400, tells about the Church of Saint Victor.