Habitually Chic®'s Logo  

The Met Cloisters

by habituallychic

07 . 20 . 21

After my field trip to the Van Cortlandt House Museum a few weeks ago, I stopped by The Met Cloisters. I love the quiet beauty of the cloister garden and I try to visit once or twice a year.

The Cloisters, a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is America’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of the Middle Ages. Picturesquely overlooking the Hudson River in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan, the Museum derives its name from the portions of five medieval cloisters incorporated into a modern museum structure. Not replicating any one particular medieval building type or setting, but rather designed to evoke the architecture of the later Middle Ages, The Cloisters creates an integrated and harmonious context in which visitors can experience the rich tradition of medieval artistic production, including metalwork, painting, sculpture, and textiles. By definition, a cloister consists of a covered walkway surrounding a large open courtyard providing access to other monastic buildings. Similarly, the museum’s cloisters act as passageways to galleries; and they provide as inviting a place for rest and contemplation for visitors as they often did in their original monastic settings.”

The Cloisters is one of the best hidden gems of New York and it’s worth a long Uber ride. It can get very crowded on beautiful weekends though so plan your visit accordingly.

All photos by Heather Clawson for Habitually Chic.