Young Ken Mannion had a project to do for his Medieval and Renaissance History class that sent him down to the Cloisters today. His parents tagged along and the gang of us spent the early afternoon wandering among the tapestries, altar pieces, and sepulchers. A good time was had by all. The Gothic Chapel. The Cloisters. New York City. Sunday. April 28, 2013.
Bet the Cloisters garden was in fine spring form as well. Great spot.
Posted by: Tom W. | Monday, April 29, 2013 at 06:26 PM
When I visited the Cloisters and saw the Unicorn tapestries and heard the story of how the Rochefoucauld family had owned them for centuries before selling them to John D. Rockefeller, it reminded me of Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country and the French count's pain over having to sell tapestries that had been in his family for generations in order to pay alimony to shallow, mercenary Undine. I was sure she had based this part of her story on the Unicorn tapestries. Then I discovered that The Custom of the Country was published years before the Unicorn tapestries were sold. That'll teach me to sentimentalize over some rich family selling their treasures. They probably just wanted the cash.
Posted by: MaryRC | Saturday, May 04, 2013 at 03:59 PM