When Ben’s cousins, Hannah and Eva, were here visiting with us, the three of us took a trip up into Manhattan to see The Cloisters and The Met (The Met will be in another post!).
Last time we visited The Cloisters, I was just recovering from my appendectomy and really not up to it, and I must say that I enjoyed it a whole lot more this time!
I got some nice window shots:
And a doorway:
In one of the chapels there was this intricately carved frieze:
I enjoyed the pretty symmetry of pillars, of which there are many at The Cloisters:
Hannah sitting in an outside courtyard with some cool pillars behind her (she’s actually sitting by the pillars in the picture above.
Another courtyard, this time indoors:
We had pretty great weather — it was an unseasonably warm day, and we had some sandwiches outside.
Having fun with reflections. We could say that Eva was reflecting on John the Baptist, who was in turn reflecting on how he lost his arm.
Hannah and Eva in front of a very detailed alabaster wall carving:
There were plenty of statues, pictures, tapestries and carvings of Mary. Here are two I thought particularly pretty, though a tad condescending:
Artists back in the day sure paid a lot of attention to detail! This little work below is not much bigger than a golf ball, and yet so incredibly detailed! The side panels can fold in or out and the whole thing can close. Sorry about the bad photo quality!
And just look at this beautifully painted book. I wish they still made them like this!
There has to be some humor too, of course. In fact, I have a entire blog post dedicated to some of the humorous things we saw at The Cloisters coming to you in the next few days, but here is a little something to whet the appetite:
With a description:
