This weekend I attended my husband’s family reunion in New Jersey near the Jersey shore, about 25 members in all, some from up and down the east coast, some from the west coast. On Saturday some of us drove into NYC and toured the Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Medieval museum.
The park and building that houses the medieval collection were donated by Rockefeller and opened in 1938. The building was inspired by medieval architecture and covers collections from 1000 AD to the 1500s.
It was a real step back into that time period and all I could think of was how I wished my medieval author friends could see this place!
Here is some of what I saw:
A French Chapter House from the twelfth century –
The monks sat on the stone benches around the room for business meetings.
A Spanish fresco, ca. 1200s
My husband taking photos on the West Terrace overlooking the water.
Look what a beautiful day it was!
A painted box, ca 1200s, depicting the capture of Orange
The Unicorn in Captivity, ca. 1500s
A familiar image!
What a cool weekend!
National Geographic has an article about medieval treasure buried in England, this week.
I’ve only been able to visit the Cloisters once, but I loved it!! Thanks for taking us along with you 🙂
I once went with my husband to a European car show (back when he had his vintage Mini) near Lake Cazenovia and discovered a Federal era mansion on the site (Lorenzo State Historical Site).
But usually I have to look for my history.
New York is high on our list to visit. There are so many great museums there. This one is high on my list and I know my husband will enjoy it when he gets there. Thanks for the wonderful pictures. I didn’t realize they had that unicorn tapestry.
Judy, that article sounds interesting!
Amanda! I should have known you would visit the Cloisters.
Elena, a vintage Mini??? How cool!
Yes, the Mini was very fun, smaller and IMHO even cuter than the new ones. People always smiled when they saw us drive by. Sadly, we had to sell it after he had his stroke. It would have been too much to convert to automatic and left foot driving. But it went to a good home, another Mini enthusiast.
I visited the Cloisters while I was in NYC for the RWA convention. It was clear that I’m way more into history than modern events – my top tourist attractions were the Cloisters and the Discovery Pompeii exhibit (although I did see Alexander McQueen at the Met, which was amazing). The Cloisters was a highlight of the trip, though – so cool that they rebuilt an entire French building on the site! Thanks for sharing!