A step back to the Middle Ages

The Cloisters from its entrance

As Europeans, we tend to think of the Americans as slightly eccentric and somewhat megalomaniac. Nothing is impossible in America after all, and so we often find ourselves confirmed in our preconception of Uncle Sam and his people. Moreover, as the wisdom of the crowd has it, despite their political and economic proeminence, Americans silently begrudge the Europeans their centuries old cultural and religious heritage.

Today we have been witness to what could be seen as the best possible outcome of these two commonplaces (should they then be true). After a thirty minutes subway ride up north, we found ourselves at the entrance of Fort Tryon Park at the northwest tip of Manhattan, a hill so remote and solitary that one could imagine it to hoist a genuine European cloister.  

And so it does, somehow. On the top of the hill of Fort Tryon Park thrones the Cloisters, the uptown branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the only museum in the United States entirely dedicated to medieval European art. Yet the Cloisters not only exhibits medieval art, it also incorporates it in the most literal possible meaning of that expression. The Cloisters was built after the plans of different European monasteries, in such a way that it could incorporate in its architecture several pillars, archways, cloisters and chapels that had been shipped from Europe to be reassembled on site. As a result, some of the most beautiful masterpieces of medieval European sculpture, interior architecture and pieces of art have found a new home on this side of the Atlantic.

Late gothic alabaster sculpture

Romanesque crucifix from the 13th century

As both Basilio and I have a decidedly contemporary mind-set, we decided to go for the audio guide to get the background knowledge that we deemed necessary for a full appreciation of the masterpieces that lay ahead. And our choice was well suited. Following the director's tour, we saw early romanesque sculpture, beautiful cloisters from three different European monasteries, magnificent embroidered tapestry, gothic arches and stained glass as well as a medieval herb garden on a terrasse on a patio with unique vista on the Hudson River and wooden land in New Jersey (apparently the young Rockefeller who gifted the Metropolitan Museum with the land of its current northern location bought the land on the opposite Hudson shore to make sure that it would never be overbuilt by mediocre settlements that could destroy the pleasant view from the Cloisters).

Sunset light seeping in from the patio

Today's afternoon has therefore been an uplifting lesson in medieval art history, guided by some very fine examples of European art. Ironically, our visit was framed by a contemporary piece of art that we last saw at MoMA PS1 (the contemporary branch of the MoMA) when we came to New York some two years ago: Janet Cardiff's Forty Part Motet, an installation of forty high-fidelity speakers each of which embodies the voice of an individual singer, performing a sacred chorale. Installed in the formerly Spanish romanesque Fuentidueña Chapel, this work almost looses its contemporary character and becomes a genuine part of the surrounding architecture and its time. One may regret that some playful aspects of the space and sound experience intended by Cardiff go awry in this context. At the same time, context and sound melt into a unique stunning experience - which was especially beautiful shortly before the doors closed as most people had by then already left.

It will be interesting to rediscover a new eye for old art when we get back to the other side of the pond.

Medieval herb garden