Museum Monday: The Met Cloisters

Medieval Europe on the island of Manhattan

(5 min read) The Met Cloisters offers an immersive experience in medieval architecture and showcases a world-class collection of art from the 8th to 16th centuries.

1. The Saint-Guilhem Cloister, with building components taken from the site of the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert (France), 804 to the 1660s.

Overview

The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue (aka “The Met,” and the greatest single museum in the world) has a great medieval collection, both in the decorative arts galleries on the first floor and in the painting galleries on the second.

2. The Cuxa Cloister, from the Benedictine Abbey of Sant Miquel de Cuixa (Spain) and dating from c1130-40.

But if you really want to feel like you are in medieval Europe, travel to the northern tip of Manhattan — six miles north of the Met, a hundred miles from the noise and pollution, and a thousand years back in time — and enter The Cloisters (aka the “Met Cloisters”), a branch of the Met that not only houses more medieval art but does so in a building constructed from components brought over from Europe.

3. The Bonnefont Cloister, mostly from a late 12th-century Cistercian Abbaye de Bonnefont (France).

The entire building wasn’t brought over, of course. But many of the key architectural spaces — like the central Cuxa cloister (figures 2, 7 & 13), the St-Guilhem cloister (figures 1 & 8), and the Bonnefont cloister (figure 3) — were compiled from building components of medieval monasteries and convents.

4. The exterior and entrance.

The Cloisters exists thanks to the extraordinary collecting efforts of George Grey Barnard, an American sculptor who spent decades in France acquiring medieval architectural fragments, sculptures, and decorative objects.

5. A “Palm Sunday” Christ that would have been used in processions (15th C?), in front of a polyptych and medieval doorways.

Working in the early 1900s, Barnard had perfect timing — the French Revolution had damaged countless monasteries and churches, and many more were crumbling from neglect or being demolished for modern development. What others saw as ruins, Barnard saw as rescue-able treasures.

6. A mural in the “Fuentidueña Apse” and a Crucifixion (both Spanish and late 12th C).

Barnard was both passionate and systematic in his collecting. He didn’t just buy individual pieces — he acquired entire architectural ensembles. The pink marble columns and capitals of the Cuxa Cloister came from the 12th-century Benedictine abbey in the Pyrenees.

7. Looking through an arch in the Cuxa Cloister.

8. An arcade in the Saint-Guilhem Cloister.

The Saint-Guilhem Cloister combines fragments from a monastery founded by Charlemagne’s cousin in 804. The Bonnefont Cloister represents 12th-century Cistercian austerity with its simple, elegant stonework.

9. Medieval stained glass inset in a modern window, looking into the Bonnefont Cloister.

Initially, Barnard displayed his collection in a makeshift museum on Fort Washington Avenue. But the scope of what he’d assembled demanded something grander — enter John D Rockefeller Jr, who in the 1930s both purchased Barnard’s collection and funded construction of a proper home for it.

10. Quiet art appreciation in the “Gothic Chapel” — mostly modern architecture with medievalsculpture.

Rockefeller’s vision was ambitious: create an authentic medieval environment in America by reassembling Barnard’s architectural elements within a purpose-built structure. The museum opened in 1938, designed by Charles Collens to harmoniously blend the various medieval periods and regions Barnard had collected.

11. Medieval stained glass inset in a modern window, looking over the Hudson.

The building’s location — perched above the Hudson River in Fort Tryon Park (which Rockefeller also donated to the city) — enhances the time-travel effect.The building’s terraced gardens, planted with species mentioned in medieval texts and tapestries, complete the illusion that Barnard first imagined when he saw those crumbling stones in rural France.

12. The “Unicorn Room,” featuring a famous cycle of c1500 “Unicorn Hunt” tapestries.

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Art in Detail

For a detailed look at some of the pieces here I found particularly interesting or photogenic, check out the recent Substack Notes below.

(Also, note that the Unicorn Tapestries mentioned in figure 12 will be featured in much detail at The Gothic World in nine days.)

Practical Information

Where: Manhattan, USA

My Visit: 7 May 2021

Best For: Medieval art enthusiasts, visitors tired of the hustle and bustle of NYC.

Pro Tip: Locals are more likely to visit here than tourists, so weekday afternoons are a good option — go to a more crowded option in the morning and visit here in the afternoon.

13. An arcade in the Cuxa Cloister.