Cloisters, The

▪ museum, New York City, New York, United States

      a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (New York City), N.Y., that is dedicated to the art and architecture of medieval Europe.

      The Cloisters is located on 4 acres (1.6 hectares) in Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park, overlooking the Hudson River. The museum was designed by architect Charles Collens and opened in 1938. It takes its name from elements of five medieval French cloisters that have been incorporated into the building design and serve as connecting points between the various galleries. It houses three medieval chapels, notably the 12th-century Spanish Fuentiduena Chapel. The building's gothic style, evident in its terraces, galleries, gardens, arcades, and rooms, is meant to evoke the context in which the featured works were created.

 The permanent collection at the Cloisters includes more than 5,000 pieces of European art, dating from 800 to 1600 CE, with the 12th through the 15th centuries being strongly represented. The displays are primarily organized chronologically. The objects include sculptures, statuary, paintings, and stained-glass windows. Collection highlights include the renowned Unicorn tapestries; a 15th-century French book of hours; an elaborately carved ivory cross, dated to the 12th century; stained glass from the castle chapel at Ebreichsdorf, Austria; and the Mérode Altarpiece (c. 1428), a triptych by Flemish master Robert Campin (Campin, Robert). Three of the cloisters include gardens meticulously designed in the medieval fashion.

 

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