NYC: The Met Cloisters

Betsy in the Bonnefont Cloister,
a garden with 250 species cultivated in the Middle Ages.

It's not well advertised, but a single ticket to the Met is not just to the famous huge Metropolitan Museum on 5th Avenue, but also to The Met Cloisters and The Met  Breuer.  The trick is you need to see everything in three days.  So we went to the famous Met on Friday, and the less well known but more delightful Cloisters on Saturday.

Steven ambling toward The Cloisters, Fort Tryon Park

The Met Cloisters is way uptown, near 190th, practically off the island.  It is surrounded by Fort Tryon Park, 60+acres of woods and trails overlooking the Hudson River. The land was owned by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who not coincidentally, also is responsible for The Cloisters.  You are still on Manhattan Island, but you feel very removed from the hustle and bustle. In fact, Rockefeller purchased land across the Hudson to preserve the wilderness and the illusion you had not left the 15th Century.

The main cloister, Cuxa Cloister, in full bloom, with butterflies everywhere.

A cloister is a covered walkway surrounding a courtyard, typically placed within a convent or monastery.  The Met Cloisters are a beautiful hodgepodge of four cloisters, surrounded by chapels, halls and galleries, that ultimately form a cohesive medieval monastery. A third of the architectural elements come from medieval French buildings salvaged by an American sculptor, George Grey Barnard.

Unicorn Tapestries, ca. 1495-1505 

The collection inside includes several tapestries, the most famous being the Unicorn Tapestries, which are placed in their own room.  After seeing so many religious paintings and altarpieces, it is a welcome change to see a subject based on a fantastical creature.  I'm sorry to say it does not end well for the unicorn.

Unicorn Tapestries, ca 1495-1505