The Cloisters

Last Saturday, after we had a nice brunch over in Somers (which is next to Purdys, where Pete Takeshi's parents live). Can't recall the name of the restaurant, but it definitely had the hometown feeling to it, and the hostess and our waitress were cute. haha It's too bad Somers doesn't have a true local economy, as far as I can tell. No real agriculture? Pete says housing prices are bad where his parents live, because it's in high demand by those commuting to NYC for work and such. I'm still down on living in NYC, even though Watcher wants to move there and plenty of other people are attracted to the city and its sights (and shopping opportunities).

Pete, his friend Bort (who lives in Providence but works in Boston), and I took the train into Grand Central, where we met up with the Brat (who teaches at a private school in NYC and lives there). We were going to the Cloisters, which is a part of the Metropolitan Museum and located in Fort Tryon. Too bad there were no cannon (even if not functioning) at the fort. There were a lot of couples and families at the park, but I do not think fires are allowed there (and hence no BBQing)--plenty of picnics though.

The individual pieces are quite beautiful; the ivory work was very skilled--they reminded me of the amount of detail and attention given to Asian ivory pieces.



Nice baldacchino.




The death of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is attended by the Apostles except St. Thomas.

I need a better photo of this one (along with many of the others)--supposedly the one of the few verified works of a certain artist.



Saint Peter.

A photo of Pete.

Ok, this is really St. Mary Magdalene--she's holding the spices to annoint Christ.

But the museum as a whole... it's modelled after a medieval monastery, but it's a mishmash, nothing organic, a frankenstein of sorts, with various pieces (fountains, altars, and so on) placed here and there, to give the appearance of what they looked like in their original setting, but still a frankenstein. My favorite image that I used to criticize museums is that of the white sepulchre, which is applicable to museums in general, not just the Cloisters, despite the beauty of the individual works that may be located within. Art divorced from a living culture and community... in the past there were some pieces commissioned by when the rich for their private enjoyment or the enjoyment of family and a select few (portraits, for example) , other pieces were commissioned for a public setting (a church, a public building, a town square) to be be appreciated by many and hence integrated into the community life, reminding them perhaps of transcendent values, whether it be manifested in the mundane or the extraodinary or the sacred. A museum marks a rupture in the community--how many great works do we see in or near our huge buildings? (If there is any art, it's modern art--which is "all bosh.") How much art or beauty do we come upon in our everyday lives?