A Day at The Cloisters

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June 5th 2005

Published: July 31st 2005

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Saint Guilhem Cloister

The Cloisters, situated in beautiful Fort Tyrone Park in Upper Manhattan. The Cloisters is an extension of the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art of medieval Europe. The Cloisters, opened in 1938, incorporates architectural monuments carefully transported from Europe and reconstructed in a building specifically designed to evoke rather than imitate the monasteries, churches and halls of medieval times.

Two hours is just enough time to engage your creative and imaginative faculties, and not enough time to soak in all the history. This is one of those places you find yourself running back to time and time again.

One of the attractive features in this museum were the gardens. The gardens of the Cloisters represent both real and ideal gardens of the Middle Ages. Archaeological investigations of medieval garden sites is relatively new, and historical records are thin.

The Cloister features the mysterious and world renown tapestry set called the "Hunt of the Unicorn". The commissioner of this weaving remains unknown. The tapestries were created presumably in Brussels, around 1500. The are some hints to the tapestries history woven in the design, the enigmatic initials of AE placed prominently in all the designs, inscriptions on the

Columns

Columns of varing designs and materials in a courtyard

hunter's horns, and a coat of arms on the collar of a dog in the first tapestry. Many theories have been proposed, none have been conclusively proved.

Additional photos below

Photos: 13, Displayed: 13

Arches

Detail of the arches in the Chapter House. It is one of the few monuments that is nearly intact.

The Magi

Better known as the Three Kings. During the Middle Ages these people were thought to have descended from the three sons of Noah, and thus represent the three races of Mankind.

Christ on the Cross

This fresco is from San Juan de Tredos.

Christ on the Donkey

The apse and floor plan are styled after Segovian churches, with no side isles or transepts.

Detail of Column

The skill level of craftmanship during the Middle Ages continues to astound me.

Knight at Rest

This individual lead quite a life. Meet chevalier Jean d'Alluye. The seigneur of several towns in the Loire valley. Jean joined a crusade to the Holy Land and was credited with bringing back a relic of the True Cross.