For many museum-goers the use of rich gold and silver leaf to illuminate religious texts is an artistic practice that began—and ended—centuries ago.

However, the process in all of its precision and beauty continues to this day, and a new exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum highlights the work of celebrated contemporary artist Barbara Wolff. Titled Hebrew Illumination for Our Time: The Art of Barbara Wolff, the show includes You Renew the Face of the Earth: Psalm 104 and the Rose Haggadah. The manuscripts feature gold, silver, and platinum foils on vellum with imagery drawn from nature, archaeology, and religious custom in a 21st century ode to the long history of Jewish illumination.

Both works were generously donated to the Morgan—an institution renowned for its collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts—by Joanna S. Rose. The exhibition will be on view through May 3.

“These manuscripts allow visitors to draw rich comparisons between contemporary Jewish illumination and some of the European precedents drawn from the Morgan’s Christian Psalters and other Morgan manuscripts that served as inspiration for Barbara Wolff,” said Peggy Fogelman, acting director of the Morgan Library & Museum. “The artist’s imagery and compositions are remarkable and demonstrate that the practice of illumination can be as meaningful today as it was centuries ago. The Morgan is deeply grateful to Joanna Rose for the donation of these works and is delighted to present them on public exhibition so soon after their arrival at the Morgan.”