Medieval religious masterpieces in Manhattan at The Met Cloisters

NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER
By Angelo Stagnaro

The doorway of Moutiers-Saint-Jean, the Virgin and Child. (Courtesy of The Cloisters )

NEW YORK---The Cloisters is a museum on the extreme northern hills of Manhattan Island. Its collection, part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a seamless mélange of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, sculpture and decorative art pieces. In other words, Catholic religious art.When one thinks of a “Catholic museum,” the Vatican or the great cathedrals of Europe may come to mind. Most would be surprised to learn that there’s one in Manhattan. In 1925, philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. acquired the majority of the museum’s collection from George Grey Barnard, a U.S. sculptor and art dealer/collector. [link]