The Colmar Treasure:
A Medieval Jewish Legacy at the Cloisters
Gold Florin of Louis of Hungary
(1342-53)
End paper from a hand printed
Hebrew Prayer Book (Mazor)
Jewel Box
Gold Wedding ring
showing model of the
Jerusalem Temple on
the top
Unicorn Tapestry
The Met Cloisters
90 Margaret Corbin Drive
Fort Tryon Park, New York City
(212) 923-3700
metmuseum.org
Open 7 days a week
March-October 10 AM - 5:15 PM
November-February 10 AM-4:45 PM
BY LORRAINE BERTAN,
CULTURE COMMITTEE
Visiting The Met Cloisters during
the fall season is a pleasant way to
view the scenic Hudson and the
magnificent medieval architecture
of the Cloisters.
A special exhibit, The Colmar
Treasure, has a collection of jewels
and coins from a Jewish family
living in Colmar, Alsace, France
during the 14th century. It contains
silver coins, one gold coin,
and jewelry and household items
like belt hooks and buttons. It
is not the value of the “treasure”
which is important, but the historical
significance of the need for a
middle class Jewish family to hide
their valuables in a wall during a
trying time for Jews in the years of
the Black Plague. A tiny silver key
can be worn as a necklace so Jewish
women can avoid “carrying” the
key on Shabbat to open the door
of the house. Colmar was a trading
city, and Jews had been living there
since the thirteenth century and
had built a synagogue, a mikvah
and a cemetery which had been
destroyed. The Colmar Treasure is
on loan from the Musee de Cluny
in Paris and is on exhibit at the
Cloisters through January 12, 2020.
The Met Cloisters is a branch of
the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and represents the art and architecture
of medieval Europe. It is located
on a hilltop facing the Hudson
River and is in Fort Tryon Park, site
of a Revolutionary War battle for
northern Manhattan. The Cloisters
had its origin in the medieval art
collection of George Grey Barnard,
an American sculptor whose work
is exhibited at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. Barnard was a
student of the sculptor Rodin, and
he studied in Paris and became a
collector and dealer of medieval
sculpture, architectural artifacts
and other forms of medieval art.
He moved back to the United
States and lived in the northern
tip of Manhattan, where he
opened a museum displaying his
collection of medieval art, which
he called the Cloisters. In 1924
the Metropolitan Museum of Art
purchased Barnard’s museum and
its collection with funds provided
by John D. Rockefeller. In 1927
the Metropolitan Museum of Art
required a larger building for the
Cloisters, and John D. Rockefeller
again provided funds to acquire 66
acres of land north of Barnard’s
Cloisters and created Fort Tryon
Park.
To enhance the setting,
Rockefeller donated additional land
to New Jersey to be incorporated
into the Palisades Park facing the
Cloisters across the Hudson River.
Charles Collens, who designed the
Riverside Church in Manhattan,
was chosen to be the architect
of the Cloisters, and many of the
architectural artifacts acquired
by Barnard were incorporated in
the buildings. The interiors were
designed by Joseph Beck and
James Rorimer, both scholars of
medieval art. The famous Unicorn
Tapestries were purchased by John
D. Rockefeller.
Walking through the grounds and
gardens of the Cloisters shows the
beauty of nature, as well as the contemplative
aspect of the Cloisters.
There is a charming restaurant,
“The New Leaf,” which has a
terrace that opens to the park, a
quiet sanctuary on the island of
Manhattan.
November 2019 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 37
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