The Cloisters Museum and Gardens
By STAN PARCHIN
January 1, 2010

High atop a promontory on four acres of Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park sits The Cloisters Museum and Gardens. This celebrated branch of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is devoted exclusively to the art, architecture and culture of medieval Europe. A singular institution in the United States, the building and its impeccably manicured grounds majestically overlook the scenic Hudson River. Some 5,000 enamels, illuminated manuscripts, sculptures, tapestries and works in ivory, gold, silver and stained glass describe European civilization from the 9th to early 16th Century, emphasizing the artistic achievements of the Romanesque (ca. 1000-1150/1200) and Gothic (ca. 1150-1520) periods. The Metropolitan Museum's Fifth Avenue location houses a comparable world-class collection of more than 6,000 medieval artworks that spans a broader chronological and geographical range than that of The Cloisters.

Origins of The Cloisters
American sculptor George Grey Barnard (1863-1938), a student of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), found and sold medieval statuary and architectural pieces in rural France. He obtained quite a few from farmers and civic officials whose families owned them since the turbulent days of the French Revolution. After returning to New York on the eve of World War I, Barnard opened the United States' first museum of medieval art in northern Manhattan's Fort Washington neighborhood. Its groundbreaking display reflected the artist's romantic vision of the European Middle Ages.

Funds from philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960) permitted The Met to acquire Barnard's collection in 1925. The wealthy patron also donated to the museum more than 40 medieval artworks, including the famous Unicorn Tapestries (1495-1505). By 1927, a much larger building was needed to display the objects in an atmosphere evocative of the medieval era. Anticipating that the collection would outgrow its original home, Rockefeller converted 65.5 acres of riverfront property slightly north of Barnard's museum into Fort Tryon Park. Completed in 1938, the public space's crown jewel remains to this day The Cloisters. Rockefeller also secured land across the Hudson River in the verdant Palisades, donated it to the State of New Jersey and preserved The Cloisters' unobstructed view and pristine setting.

The Building
A principal feature of Christian architecture in the Middle Ages was the cloister, a roofed walkway that bordered a quadrangular open courtyard. It provided passage from one monastic building to another. The enclosed space, intended for spiritual reflection and prayer, was also ideal for sculptural decoration.

Architect Charles Collens (1873-1956), an authority on the Neo-Gothic style, chose to erect an institution in Fort Tryon Park that reflected the spirit of the Middle Ages rather than replicate an existing medieval structure. He incorporated architectural remnants from secular and religious buildings into the fabric of the new museum. The Cloisters features reassembled sections from five French monastic structures: Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Bonnefont-en-Comminges, Trie-en-Bigorre and Froville. Elements from monasteries in southern France are also included. The Cuxa, Bonnefont and Trie cloisters contain gardens noted for their variety and presentation of mostly medieval plants, a horticulturist's delight.

Recent Developments
In recent years, much-needed structural repairs to The Cloisters have occurred as part of its ongoing Building Preservation Project. They've included: refurbishment of the Nine Heroes and Unicorn Tapestries Rooms (1999); installation of the Saint-Guilhem cloister's new skylighting and conservation of its sculptures (2003); renovation of the Boppard Room with its 15th-century works (2004); updating of the museum's track lighting and climate control systems, its celebrated Medieval Treasury and the Early Gothic Hall with newly conserved examples of 13th- and 14th-century stained glass (2006); and permanent display of 12 decorative architectural sculptures in the Cuxa Cloister, followed by the rehabilitation of the Campin Room (2007), home of the Merode Altarpiece (1425-30). The Late Gothic Hall reopened to the public in Fall 2009.

Sources
Barnet, Peter and Nancy Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005.

Cavallo, Adolfo Salvatore. The Unicorn Tapestries. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998.

Young, Bonnie. A Walk Through The Cloisters. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989.

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