The Cloisters
The Cloisters, also known as the Met Cloisters, is a museum in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City. The museum, situated in Fort Tryon Park, specializes in European medieval art and architecture, with a focus on the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Governed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it contains a large collection of medieval artworks shown in the architectural settings of French monasteries and abbeys. Its buildings are centered around four cloisters—the Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem, Bonnefont and Trie—that were acquired by American sculptor and art dealer George Grey Barnard in France before 1913, and moved to New York. Barnard's collection was bought for the museum by financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. Other major sources of objects were the collections of J. P. Morgan and Joseph Brummer.
For other uses, see The Cloisters (disambiguation).Established
May 10, 1938
99 Margaret Corbin Drive, Fort Tryon Park
Manhattan, New York City
1935–1939
0835
December 19, 1978[2]
March 19, 1974[1]
The museum's building was designed by the architect Charles Collens, on a site on a steep hill, with upper and lower levels. It contains medieval gardens and a series of chapels and themed galleries, including the Romanesque, Fuentidueña, Unicorn, Spanish, and Gothic rooms.[3] The design, layout, and ambiance of the building are intended to evoke a sense of medieval European monastic life.[4] It holds about 5,000 works of art and architecture, all European and mostly dating from the Byzantine to the early Renaissance periods, mainly during the 12th through 15th centuries. The objects include stone and wood sculptures, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts and panel paintings, of which the best known include the c. 1422 Early Netherlandish Mérode Altarpiece and the c. 1495–1505 Flemish Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries.
Rockefeller purchased the museum site in Washington Heights in 1930 and donated it to the Metropolitan in 1931. Upon its opening on May 10, 1938, the Cloisters was described as a collection "shown informally in a picturesque setting, which stimulates imagination and creates a receptive mood for enjoyment".[5]
History[edit]
Formation[edit]
The basis for the museum's architectural structure came from the collection of George Grey Barnard, an American sculptor and collector who almost single-handedly established a medieval art museum near his home in the Fort Washington section of Upper Manhattan. Although he was a successful sculptor who had studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, his income was not enough to support his family. Barnard was a risk taker and led most of his life on the edge of poverty.[6] He moved to Paris in 1883 where he studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts.[6] He lived in the village of Moret-sur-Loing, near Fontainebleau, between 1905 and 1913,[7] and began to deal in 13th- and 14th-century European objects to supplement his earnings. In the process he built a large personal collection of what he described as "antiques", at first by buying and selling stand-alone objects with French dealers,[8] then by the acquisition of in situ architectural artifacts from local farmers.[6]
Acquisition and deaccessioning[edit]
A specialist museum, the Cloisters regularly acquires new works and rarely sells or otherwise gets rid of them. While the Metropolitan does not publish separate figures for the Cloisters, the entity as a whole spent $39 million on acquisitions for the fiscal year ending in June 2012.[159] The Cloisters seeks to balance its collection between religious and secular artifacts and artworks. With secular pieces, it typically favors those that indicate the range of artistic production in the medieval period, and according to art historian Timothy Husband, "reflect the fabric of daily [medieval European] life but also endure as works of art in their own right".[160] In 2011 it purchased the then-recently discovered The Falcon's Bath, a Southern Netherlands tapestry dated c. 1400–1415. It is of exceptional quality, and one of the best preserved surviving examples of its type.[161] Other recent acquisitions of significance include the 2015 purchase of a Book of Hours attributed to Simon Bening.[48]
Exhibitions and programs[edit]
The museum's architectural settings, atmosphere, and acoustics have made it a regular setting both for musical recitals and as a stage for medieval theater. Notable stagings include The Miracle of Theophilus in 1942, and John Gassner's adaption of The Second Shepherds' Play in 1954.[162] Recent significant exhibitions include "Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures" which ran in the summer of 2017 in conjunction with the Art Gallery of Ontario and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.[163]
Capital from the monastery of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, French (Languedoc), after 804
Virgin and Child, French (Burgundy), 1130-1140
Lancet window, French (Normandy), c. 1250–1300
Amatory Brooch, German, c. 1340–60
Appliqué Figure of Christ, French, 13th century
Alexander the Great or Hector of Troy, (detail), tapestry, France or South Lowlands, c. 1400–10
Apostle Spoon, silver, partial gilt, British, c. 1470
Adoration of the Magi, German, c. 1470–80
Nativity of the Virgin (detail), German, c. 1480
