The Cloisters
99 Margaret Corbin Drive, Fort Tyron Park
Designated a landmark on March 19, 1974
Architect: Charles Collens
Built: 1934-38
The Cloisters, which opened to the public in May 1938, is a
division of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, housing a portion
of its medieval art collection. The noted sculptor George Grey
Barnard acquired what would become the core of this collection
during his travels through Europe. He assembled, in addition to
works in the decorative and fine arts, a large number of medieval
architectural fragments. In 1925, John D. Rockefeller Jr. made a
donation to The Metropolitan Museum of Art to purchase this
collection, and five years later he obtained the entire area that
now forms Fort Tyron Park. After having set aside a four-acre
site at the northern end for a museum building dedicated to
medieval art, he gave all this property to the city.
The Jewish Museum, formerly the Felix M.
Warburg mansion
1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street
Designated a landmark on November 24, 1981
Architect: C.P.H. Gilbert;
Addition, Kevin Roche
Built: 1906-8; Addition, 1993
By the early 1900s, Fifth Avenue was known as “millionaires’
row.” The epitome of the Gilded Age, the avenue was lined with
mansions that proclaimed the owners’ unabashed enthusiasm
for the beauty money can create. The Warburg Mansion is one
of the few surviving mansions and also one of the finest—an
exceptionally handsome example of a château in the French
Renaissance style.
The mansion was designed for Felix and Frieda Schiff
Warburg by C.P.H Gilbert, who had designed a house for Felix’s
brother, Paul. Felix Warburg admired the Isaac D. Fletcher
Fifth Avenue was known as “millionaires’ row.”
The epitome of the Gilded Age, the avenue was lined with
mansions that proclaimed the owners’ unabashed enthusiasm
for the beauty money can create.
Rockefeller hired Charles Collens, of the Boston firm Allen,
Collens & Willis, to design a structure that would integrate
Barnard’s collection within a sympathetic architectural setting.
Earlier, Collens had designed The Riverside Church for
Rockefeller, as well as the additions to the adjacent Union
Theological Seminary.
The Cloisters is not a copy of a particular medieval building; it
is planned around the various architectural elements from the
cloisters of five French monasteries, which date from the 12th to
15th centuries. At the center of the museum is the largest cloister,
reconstructed with fragments from the monastery of
Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa in southwestern France. The high tower
overlooking this cloister is the most prominent feature of the entire
complex, and was modeled after the tower at the same monastery.
In May 1988, The Cloisters celebrated its 50th anniversary
with the opening of the Treasury. Its modern construction
elements fit seamlessly with the ancient work as the finish and
pattern of each new stone block were copied from medieval
examples. The massive exterior walls are made of millstone
granite from New London, CT; the interior from Doria
limestone, quarried outside Genoa, Italy.
The rocky outcrop on which The Cloisters stands is
reminiscent of the remote and wild locations of many medieval
monasteries. The plantings within and the adjacent gardens are
also based on medieval precedents. The museum’s terraces
provide excellent views of the Hudson River and the Palisades.
Together, the park and museum create one of the most beautiful
spots in all of Manhattan.
house, an elaborate Francois I-style mansion by Gilbert at East
79th Street and Fifth Avenue. Though his father-in-law, Jacob
Schiff, objected—fearing such an ostentatious style would
encourage anti-Semitism—Warburg commissioned Gilbert to
design a similar mansion.
The grand, lavishly ornamented building is faced in Indiana
limestone, which allows for smooth wall surfaces and sharply
defined ornate detailing. Above the five principal floors are
steeply pitched slate roofs encircled by pinnacled stone gables,
tall chimneys, copper cresting and finials, as well as a sixth story
with small copper dormers. The windows are of various types,
including square-headed and “basket-handle” arched, with
ogee-arched enframements. Projecting bays and balconies
further enliven the facade.
Members of an internationally renowned German
banking family, the Warburg brothers emigrated from their
native Hamburg to this country where they joined the
New York banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. While Paul
devoted himself to banking, Felix’s achievements were more
diversified. A highly capable financier, he was also a bon vivant,
art collector, philanthropist and leader of the Jewish
community. In fact, the entire family played an important role
in Jewish causes in America. Mrs. Warburg donated the
family mansion as a permanent home for The Jewish
Museum, which opened in 1947. An addition, designed
by architect Kevin Roche, was completed in 1993, replicating
the original building and more than doubling the size of
the museum. ;
