A walk through the Cloisters

Fülszöveg

A WALK THROUGH THE CLOISTERS
By Bonnie Young Photographs by Malcolm Varon
Since the cloisters, a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, opened its doors in 1938, many thousands of visitors have been attracted by its fine collection of medieval art and its ambience of serenity and history. Located on a hilltop in Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park, The Cloisters incorporates architectural monuments carefully transported from Europe and reconstructed stone by stone in a building specially designed to evoke rather than imitate the monasteries, churches, and halls of medieval times. In addition to the four cloisters for which the museum is named, there are Romanesque- and Gothic-style chapels, a twelfth-century Spanish apse, a twelfth-century chapter house, and galleries, including one furnished like a bourgeois living room. On display are rare objects of the period, such as the twelfth-century ivory cross associated with the abbey of Bury Saint Edmunds, the delicately illuminated book... Tovább

Fülszöveg

A WALK THROUGH THE CLOISTERS
By Bonnie Young Photographs by Malcolm Varon
Since the cloisters, a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, opened its doors in 1938, many thousands of visitors have been attracted by its fine collection of medieval art and its ambience of serenity and history. Located on a hilltop in Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park, The Cloisters incorporates architectural monuments carefully transported from Europe and reconstructed stone by stone in a building specially designed to evoke rather than imitate the monasteries, churches, and halls of medieval times. In addition to the four cloisters for which the museum is named, there are Romanesque- and Gothic-style chapels, a twelfth-century Spanish apse, a twelfth-century chapter house, and galleries, including one furnished like a bourgeois living room. On display are rare objects of the period, such as the twelfth-century ivory cross associated with the abbey of Bury Saint Edmunds, the delicately illuminated book of hours of the duke of Berry, the Merode altarpiece—an early Flemish painting by Robert Campin— and the renowned Unicorn tapestries.
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Many years ago, visitors to The Cloisters might have been fortunate enough to have been guided on their tour by Associate Curator Bonnie \bung, who prepared the text and captions to reveal some of the hidden treasures of The Cloisters that a casual visitor might miss—a hound pursuing a rabbit carved beneath a window sill, capitals illustrating biblical scenes and fables, and an archway displaying some of the fantastic beasts that were feared and honored in the Middle Ages. Over one hundred photographs by Malcolm Varon, most of them in color, capture changing moods and seasons, and maps for each room suggest an itinerary.
Whether it serves as a guide or an introduction to The Cloisters, or as a souvenir of a visit, A Walk Through the Cloisters offers a rich and informative view of this unique museum.
142 illustrations; 98 in color
ON THE jacket:
North arcade of the Cuxa Cloister
Published by
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
Distributed by
HARRY N. ABRAMS, INC. New "%)rk
Printed in Italy
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