202-742: The Cloisters , also known as the Met Cloisters , is a museum in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan , New York City . The museum, situated in Fort Tryon Park , specializes in European medieval art and architecture , with a focus on the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Governed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art , it contains a large collection of medieval artworks shown in
404-600: A knight of the crusades , who was thought to have returned from the Holy Land with a relic of the True Cross . He is shown as a young man, his eyes open, and dressed in chain armor , with his longsword and shield. The female effigy of a lady, found in Normandy, dates to the mid 13th century and is perhaps of Margaret of Gloucester . Although resting on a modern base, she is dressed in high contemporary aristocratic fashion, including
606-499: A mantle , cotte , jewel-studded belt and an elaborate ring necklace brooch . Four of the effigies were made for the Urgell family, are set into the chapel walls, and are associated with the church of Santa Maria at Castello de Farfanya, Catalonia, redesigned in the Gothic style for Ermengol X (died c. 1314). The elaborate sarcophagus of Ermengol VII, Count of Urgell (d. 1184) is placed on
808-557: A "transnational community", continually defined by its connection to the Dominican Republic . The majority of Dominican immigrants viewed their stay in the United States as purely economically motivated while they remained culturally attached to the D.R.; many also sent remittances home, imagining an eventual retirement to the island. During the 1970s, Washington Heights' School District 6 (including Inwood and Hamilton Heights)
1010-399: A Teenage Drug Ring , many dealers from the pre- freebasing period put greater emphasis on knowing their customers and hid their operations more carefully from police, as opposed to dealers of the crack days who would deal openly and fight violently in the competition for the drug's high profits. John D. Rockefeller Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960)
1212-571: A climax in 1957, with the assault of two teenagers of European ancestry, Michael Farmer and Roger McShane, members of the majority-Irish "Jesters" gang. The incident took place in the Highbridge Pool , a Works Progress Administration -funded pool built in 1936 which had no racial restrictions but was nonetheless an environment of racial hostility in the changing landscape of the neighborhood. The assault, which ended in Michael Farmer's death,
1414-548: A cohesive whole. Construction took place over a five-year period from 1934. In 1933, Rockefeller donated several hundred acres of the New Jersey Palisades clifftops across the river, which he had purchased over several years for the Palisades Interstate Park Commission to preserve the land from further development. The Cloisters' new building and gardens were officially opened on May 10, 1938, though
1616-543: A decrease in overall population but an increasing presence in the neighborhood's northwestern corner. By the 1970s, evidence of the exodus of the broader Jewish community was present in the changing landscape of the neighborhood, where kosher stores and Jewish bakeries were gradually replaced by new small businesses with signs in Spanish. While some Dominican immigrants had been arriving in Washington Heights throughout
1818-522: A director at J. P. Morgan 's U.S. Steel company, which had been formed in 1901. Junior resigned from both companies in 1910 in an attempt to "purify" his ongoing philanthropy from commercial and financial interests after the Hearst media empire unearthed a bribery scandal involving John Dustin Archbold (the successor to Senior as head of Standard Oil) and two prominent members of Congress. In September 1913,
2020-430: A diverse group of people of European descent. In 1920, nearly half were Protestant , most of whom had parents born in the United States; the remainder was split between Jews and Catholics , typically immigrants or born to immigrant parents. The next wave of urbanization for Washington Heights came in the 1920s, coinciding with the construction boom occurring across the city. The population increased significantly in
2222-507: A dozen courses in the social sciences, including a study of Karl Marx 's Das Kapital . He joined the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa . After graduation from Brown, Rockefeller joined his father's business in October 1897, setting up operations in the newly formed family office at 26 Broadway where he became a director of Standard Oil. He later also became
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#17331060615272424-423: A drastic decrease in crime that continued through the 21st century. From 1990 to 2023, reported motor vehicle thefts, murders, and burglaries have each fallen by over 85%, felony assaults, rapes, and robberies by over 65%, and grand larcenies by around 45%. The 30th and 32nd precincts to the south of Washington Heights, which cover most of Harlem north of 133rd Street, experienced just as drastic crime drops during
2626-473: A few modern castles. The first of these was Libbey Castle, built by Augustus Richards after he purchased the land from Lucius Chittenden in 1855. Located near Margaret Corbin Circle, this estate was once owned by William "Boss" Tweed but got its current name from William Libbey, who purchased it in 1880. Even more extravagant, Paterno Castle was situated on the estate of real estate developer Charles Paterno by
2828-679: A fifteenth-century domestic interior similar to the one shown in [Campin's] Annunciation panel." Other significant acquisitions include late 13th-century grisaille panels from the Château de Bouvreuil in Rouen , glass work from the Cathedral of Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais at Sées , and panels from the Acezat collection, now in the Heroes Tapestry Hall. The building is set into a steep hill, and thus
3030-650: A friend of a curator at the Cloisters, James Rorimer . Rorimer had long recognized the importance of Brummer's collection, and purchased large quantities of objects in the months after Brummer's sudden death in 1947. According to Christine E. Brennan of the Metropolitan, Rorimer realized that the collection offered works that could rival the Morgan Collection in the Metropolitan's Main Building, and that "the decision to form
3232-507: A garden that contains many features typical of the medieval period, including a central wellhead , raised flower beds and lined with wattle fences . The marbles are highly ornate and decorated, some with grotesque figures. The inner garden has been set with a medlar tree of the type found in The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries, and is centered around a wellhead placed at Bonnefont-en-Comminges in
3434-794: A gift to endow a major library for the League in Geneva which today still remains a resource for the UN. A confirmed ecumenicist , over the years he gave substantial sums to Protestant and Baptist institutions, ranging from the Interchurch World Movement , the Federal Council of Churches, the Union Theological Seminary , the Cathedral of St. John the Divine , New York's Riverside Church , and
3636-556: A heart attack at the family apartment at 740 Park Avenue in April 1948. Junior remarried in 1951, to Martha Baird , the widow of his old college classmate Arthur Allen. His sons, the five Rockefeller brothers, established an extensive network of social connections and institutional power over time, based on the foundations that Junior – and before him Senior – had laid down. David became a prominent banker, philanthropist and world statesman. Abby and John III became philanthropists. Laurance became
3838-459: A late 12th-century Cistercian Abbaye de Bonnefont [ fr ] at Bonnefont-en-Comminges, southwest of Toulouse . The abbey was intact until at least 1807, and by the 1850s all of its architectural features had been removed from the site, often for decoration of nearby buildings. Barnard purchased the stonework in 1937. Today the Bonnefont cloisters contain 21 double capitals, and surround
4040-455: A long restoration from 1971, undertaken by Tina Kane and Alice Blohm of the Metropolitan's Department of Textile Conservation. It is today hung in the Late Gothic hall. The Cloisters' collection of stained glass consists of around three hundred panels, generally French and Germanic and mostly from the 13th to early 16th centuries. A number were formed from handmade opalescent glass. Works in
4242-529: A neighborhood of European Americans, the 1960s and 1970s featured full force demographic shifts. Washington Heights' upwardly mobile White residents began to leave in great numbers, and lower-income Latino population saw great increases. Apart from the allure of suburban homes and their economic capacity to buy them, White residents were spurred to leave by the demographic changes themselves, increasing negligence of residential buildings, and rising crime (having more than doubled between 1969 and 1982). Compared to
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#17331060615274444-633: A number of notable Black residents, such as Paul Robeson , Kenneth Clark , and Count Basie . The presence of middle-class Black people in 555 Edgecombe and other higher-class buildings in southeast Washington Heights led many to associate it with Sugar Hill , the Harlem sub-neighborhood spanning between Edgecombe Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue to its south. In addition to segregation, racism also manifested itself in gang culture, where youth often defined themselves by race or ethnicity and violently defended their respective territories. These tensions were brought to
4646-459: A party aboard President William McKinley 's yacht, the USS Dolphin , on a cruise to Cuba . Although the outing was of a political nature, Rockefeller's future wife, philanthropist and socialite Abigail Greene "Abby" Aldrich , was included in the large party. The two had first met in the fall of 1894 and had been courting for over four years. Rockefeller married Abby on October 9, 1901, in what
4848-496: A quick tour of the city. The upshot of his visit was that he approved the plans already developed by Goodwin and launched the massive historical restoration of Colonial Williamsburg on November 22, 1927. Amongst many other buildings restored through his largesse was The College of William & Mary's Wren Building and the Episcopalian Bruton Parish Church . In 1940, Rockefeller hosted Bill Wilson , one of
5050-523: A regular setting both for musical recitals and as a stage for medieval theater. Notable stagings include The Miracle of Theophilus in 1942, and John Gassner's adaption of The Second Shepherds' Play in 1954. Recent significant exhibitions include "Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures" which ran in the summer of 2017 in conjunction with the Art Gallery of Ontario and Rijksmuseum , Amsterdam. Washington Heights, Manhattan Washington Heights
5252-622: A responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty". In 1935, Rockefeller received The Hundred Year Association of New York 's Gold Medal Award, "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." He was awarded the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences in 1943. In August 1900, Rockefeller was invited by the powerful senator Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich of Rhode Island to join
5454-493: A sense of medieval European monastic life. It holds about 5,000 works of art and architecture, all European and mostly dating from the Byzantine to the early Renaissance periods, mainly during the 12th through 15th centuries. The objects include stone and wood sculptures, tapestries , illuminated manuscripts and panel paintings, of which the best known include the c. 1422 Early Netherlandish Mérode Altarpiece and
5656-441: A series of rooms and spaces, mostly separate from those dedicated to the installed architectural artifacts. The Cloisters has never focused on building a collection of masterpieces; rather, the objects are chosen thematically yet arranged simply to enhance the atmosphere created by the architectural elements in the particular setting or room in which they are placed. To create the atmosphere of a functioning series of cloisters, many of
5858-478: A single aisle nave and transepts taken from a small Benedictine parish church built around 1115 at Notre Dame de Pontaut. When acquired, it was in disrepair, its upper level in use as a storage place for tobacco. About three-quarters of its original stonework was moved to New York. The chapel is entered from the Romanesque hall through a doorway , a large, elaborate French Gothic stone entrance commissioned by
6060-432: A situation of extreme chaos. Located in a grand building with a Works Progress Administration mural by Lucienne Bloch , the school was relatively prestigious in the decades after its 1925 founding, graduating people such as Alan Greenspan , Henry Kissinger , and Murray Jarvik . Although George Washington remained racially mixed through the early 1970s, the school had a tracking system that saw White students leave
6262-456: A smaller group, Cuban immigrants in the Heights had an outsized role in business, according to a 1976 estimate owning the majority of Latino-owned stores. The neighborhood's Black population also increased, by 1980 numbering over 25,000 and residing in all areas of the neighborhood while remaining a plurality in the southeastern section. While the overall trend was of exodus among White residents,
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6464-409: A strategic location. Washington Heights also had a high level of unemployment and poverty in the 1980s and 1990s, providing ample economic motivation for young people to enter the drug trade. The effects of the crack trade extended beyond physical danger to a breakdown in trust and widespread fear provoked by violence in public places as well as murders of people uninvolved in the drug business. It
6666-517: A supporter of the Christian faith." He was at the time being advised by the pioneer public relations expert, Ivy Lee , and William Lyon Mackenzie King . Lee warned that the Rockefellers were losing public support and developed a strategy that Junior followed to repair it. It was necessary for Junior to overcome his shyness, go personally to Colorado to meet with the miners and their families, inspect
6868-455: A treasury at The Cloisters was reached... because it had been the only opportunity since the late 1920s to enrich the collection with so many liturgical and secular objects of such high quality." These pieces, including works in gold, silver, and ivory, are today held in the Treasury room of the Cloisters. The museum's collection of artworks consists of about 5,000 pieces. They are displayed across
7070-655: A venture capitalist and conservationist. Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller later became state governors ; Nelson went on to serve as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford . Rockefeller died of pneumonia on May 11, 1960, at the age of 86 in Tucson, Arizona, and was interred in the family cemetery in Tarrytown , with 40 family members present. From 1901 to 1913, Junior lived at 13 West 54th Street in New York. Afterward, Junior's principal residence in New York
7272-455: A violent riot, causing multiple fires, fifteen injuries, and one death. Then-mayor David Dinkins , who had met with the Garcia family following the killing, pleaded for an end to the rioting: "There is much anger in the community about the death of José Garcia and other incidents, [but] you do not build a better city by destroying it." During the mid to late 1990s, Washington Heights experienced
7474-595: A wide variety of different causes, including educational establishments. Among his projects was the reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia . He was widely blamed for having orchestrated the Ludlow Massacre and other offenses during the Colorado Coalfield War . Rockefeller was the father of six children: Abby , John III , Nelson , Laurance , Winthrop , and David . John Davison Rockefeller Jr.
7676-546: Is Born as Man's Redeemer") from c. 1500 , South Netherlandish (probably in Brussels ), Burgos Tapestry was acquired by the museum in 1938. It was originally one of a series of eight tapestries representing the salvation of man, with individual scenes influenced by identifiable panel paintings, including by van der Weyden. It was badly damaged in earlier centuries: it had been cut into several irregular pieces and undergone several poor-quality restorations. The panel underwent
7878-578: Is a neighborhood in the northern part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City . It is named for Fort Washington , a fortification constructed at the highest natural point on Manhattan by Continental Army troops to defend the area from the British forces during the American Revolutionary War . Washington Heights is bordered by Inwood to the north along Dyckman Street , by Harlem to
8080-447: Is attributed to Jean le Noir , and noted for its preoccupation with death. It was commissioned for Bonne de Luxembourg , Duchess of Normandy , daughter of John the Blind and the wife of John II of France , probably at the end of her husband's life, c. 1348–49. It was in a private collection for many years and thus known only through poor-quality photographic reproductions until acquired by
8282-578: Is dedicated to the ideal of Mary as the mother of God. Hanging within the apse is a crucifix made between about 1150 to 1200 for the Convent of St. Clara [ es ] in Astudillo , Spain. Its reverse contains a depiction of the Agnus Dei ( Lamb of God ), decorated with red and blue foliage at its frames. The exterior wall holds three small, narrow and stilted windows, which are nevertheless designed to let in
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8484-673: Is served by the 33rd and 34th Precincts of the New York City Police Department and Engine Companies 67, 84, and 93 of the New York City Fire Department . Politically, it is part of the New York City Council 's 7th and 10th districts. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area was traversed by American Indians from the Early Woodland Period , who left remains of shellfish and pottery at
8686-602: Is set apart among Manhattan neighborhoods for its high residential density despite the lack of modern construction, with the majority of its few high-rise buildings belonging to the NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Medical Center . Other higher education institutions include Yeshiva University and Boricua College . The neighborhood has generous access to green space in Fort Washington Park , Highbridge Park , and Fort Tryon Park , home to
8888-497: Is set on the museum's ground level, and was built to display its stained glass and large sculpture collections. The entrance from the upper-level Early Gothic Hall is lit by stained glass double- lancet windows, carved on both sides and acquired from the church of La Tricherie, France. The ground level is entered through a large door at its east wall. This entrance begins with a pointed Gothic arch leading to high bayed ceilings, ribbed vaults and buttress. The three center windows are from
9090-599: Is the museum's largest room, and is entered through a broad oak door flanked by sculptures that include leaping animals. Its centerpiece is the Fuentidueña Apse , a semicircular Romanesque recess built between about 1175 to 1200 at the Saint Joan church at Fuentidueña , Segovia . By the 19th century, the church was long abandoned and in disrepair. The chapel was acquired by Rockefeller for the Cloisters in 1931, following three decades of complex negotiation and diplomacy between
9292-400: The c. 1495 –1505 Flemish Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries. Rockefeller purchased the museum site in Washington Heights in 1930 and donated it to the Metropolitan in 1931. Upon its opening on May 10, 1938, the Cloisters was described as a collection "shown informally in a picturesque setting, which stimulates imagination and creates a receptive mood for enjoyment". The basis for
9494-456: The 1964 school boycott and the 1968 teachers' strike – perceived this as an attempt to subvert teachers' authority, leading them to start a local strike after the administration reached a compromise with parents over the table. By the end of 1970, the high school had seen the resignation of three principals and multiple incidents of violence against students, teachers, and security guards; while many safety improvements were made throughout
9696-575: The Adoration of the Magi and Daniel in the lions' den . The piers show Martin of Tours on the left and the angel Gabriel announcing to The Virgin on the right. The chapel includes other, mostly contemporary, medieval artwork. They include, in the dome, a large fresco dating to between 1130 and 1150, from the Spanish Church of Sant Joan de Tredòs. The fresco's colourization resembles a Byzantine mosaic and
9898-640: The Binding of Isaac , and Matthew and John writing their gospels. Capitals in the south gallery illustrate scenes from the life of Christ . The Cloisters' three gardens, the Judy Black Garden at the Cuxa Cloister on the main level, and the Bonnefont and Trie Cloisters gardens on the lower level, were laid out and planted in 1938. They contain a variety of rare medieval species, with a total of over 250 genera of plants, flowers, herbs and trees, making it one of
10100-538: The British evacuation of New York in 1783, George Washington and his staff stood in front of the tavern as they watched the American troops march southward to retake the city. After changing ownership several times, the tavern moved to a new building in 1885, following the original structure's destruction for the widening of Broadway. In 1915, the tavern was demolished again to build the 3,500-seat Coliseum Theatre , which
10302-456: The Browning School , a tutorial establishment set up for him and other children of associates of the family; it was located in a brownstone owned by the Rockefellers, on West 55th Street . His father John Sr. and uncle William Rockefeller Jr. co-founded Standard Oil together. Initially, he had intended to go to Yale University but was encouraged by William Rainey Harper , president of
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#173310606152710504-574: The Burgundian court for Moutiers-Saint-Jean Abbey in Burgundy, France. Moutiers-Saint-Jean was sacked, burned, and rebuilt several times. In 1567, the Huguenot army removed the heads from the two kings, and in 1797 the abbey was sold as rubble for rebuilding. The site lay in ruin for decades and lost further sculptural elements until Barnard arranged for the entrances' transfer to New York. The doorway had been
10706-583: The C. K. G. Billings estate and other holdings in the Fort Washington area. The Cloisters building and adjacent 4-acre (1.6 ha) gardens were designed by Charles Collens. They incorporate elements from abbeys in Catalonia and France. Parts from Sant Miquel de Cuixà , Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert , Bonnefont-en-Comminges , Trie-sur-Baïse and Froville were disassembled stone-by-stone and shipped to New York City, where they were reconstructed and integrated into
10908-633: The Hudson River . Construction of the exterior began in 1935. The stonework, primarily of limestone and granite from several European sources, includes four Gothic windows from the refectory at Sens and nine arcades. The dome of the Fuentidueña Chapel was especially difficult to fit into the planned area. The east elevation, mostly of limestone, contains nine arcades from the Benedictine priory at Froville and four flamboyant French Gothic windows from
11110-587: The League of Nations and crucially funded the formation and ongoing expenses of the Council on Foreign Relations and its initial headquarters building in New York in 1921. He established the Bureau of Social Hygiene in 1913, a major initiative that investigated such social issues as prostitution and venereal disease , as well as studies in police administration and support for birth control clinics and research. In 1924, at
11312-520: The Limbourg brothers . In 2015 the Cloisters acquired a small Netherlandish Book of Hours illuminated by Simon Bening . Each is of exceptional quality, and their acquisition was a significant achievement for the museum's early collectors. A coat of arms illustrated on one of the leaves of the "Cloisters Apocalypse" suggests it was commissioned by a member of the de Montigny family of Coutances , Normandy. Stylistically it resembles other Norman illuminated books, as well as some designs on stained glass, of
11514-440: The Morgan Library & Museum in New York, who spent the last 20 years of his life acquiring artworks, "on an imperial scale" according to art historian Jean Strous, spending some $ 900 million (inflation adjusted) in total. After his death, his son J. P. Morgan Jr. donated a large number of works from the collection to the Metropolitan. A further major early source of objects was the art dealer Joseph Brummer (1883–1947), long
11716-436: The New York Campaign of the Revolutionary War , General George Washington 's Continental Army secured a small but much-needed victory over the pursuing British Army at the Battle of Harlem Heights , after a series of defeats in Manhattan. Not long after their victory, the Continental Army suffered one of its worst defeats at the Battle of Fort Washington , in which nearly 2,900 troops were captured. Fort Washington
11918-447: The New York City Subway . Beginning as a middle-class neighborhood with many Irish and Eastern European immigrants, the neighborhood has at various points been home to communities of German Jews , Greek Americans , Puerto Ricans , Cuban Americans , and Russian Americans . Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, many White residents left the neighborhood for nearby suburbs as the Latino populations increased. Dominican Americans became
12120-456: The Presentation at the Temple , Daniel in the Lions' Den and the Mouth of Hell , and several pilasters and columns. The carvings seem preoccupied with the evils of hell. Those beside the mouth of hell contain representations of the devil and tormenting beasts, with, according to Young, "animal-like body parts and cloven hoofs [as they] herd naked sinners in chains to be thrown into an upturned monster's mouth". The Guilhem cloisters are inside
12322-408: The Snake River Land Company ), Mesa Verde National Park , Acadia , Great Smoky Mountains , Yosemite , and Shenandoah . In the case of Acadia National Park, he financed and engineered an extensive Carriage Road network throughout the park. Both the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway that connects Yellowstone National Park to the Grand Teton National Park and the Rockefeller Memorial in
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#173310606152712524-454: The United Mine Workers of America declared a strike against the Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I) company in what would become the Colorado Coalfield War . Junior owned a controlling interest in CF&I (40% of its stock) and sat on the board as an absentee director. In April 1914, after a long period of industrial unrest, the Ludlow Massacre occurred at a tent camp occupied by striking miners. At least 20 men, women, and children died in
12726-421: The University of Chicago , among others, to enter the Baptist-oriented Brown University instead. Nicknamed "Johnny Rock" by his roommates, he joined both the Glee and the Mandolin clubs, taught a Bible class, and was elected junior class president. Scrupulously careful with money, he stood out as different from other rich men's sons. In 1897, he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, after taking nearly
12928-429: The White flight occurring in other neighborhoods such as the West Bronx, the process was much slower and less destructive as few buildings were outright abandoned or burned. While Puerto Ricans had been the dominant Latino group in the 1950s, by 1965 Cubans and Dominicans had overtaken them in number, and by 1970 native Spanish speakers were the majority group in central-eastern census tracts. Despite being
13130-465: The World Council of Churches . He was also instrumental in the development of the research that led to Robert and Helen Lynd's famous Middletown studies work that was conducted in the city of Muncie, Indiana , that arose out of the financially supported Institute of Social and Religious Research. As a follow on to his involvement in the Ludlow Massacre , Rockefeller was a major initiator with his close friend and advisor William Lyon Mackenzie King in
13332-499: The garth . It is impossible now to represent solely medieval species and arrangements; those in the Cuxa garden are approximations by botanists specializing in medieval history. The oldest plan of the original building describes lilies and roses . Although the walls are modern, the capitals and columns are original and cut from pink Languedoc marble from the Pyrenees . The intersection of the two walkways contains an eight-sided fountain. The capitals were carved at different points in
13534-477: The 12th century. The Bonnefont is on the upper level of the museum and gives a view of the Hudson River and the cliffs of the Palisades . The Trie cloisters was compiled from two late 15th- to early 16th-century French structures. Most of its components came from the Carmelite convent at Trie-sur-Baïse in south-western France, whose original abbey, except for the church, was destroyed by Huguenots in 1571. Small narrow buttresses were added in New York during
13736-443: The 13th. The large limestone sculpture of Saint Margaret on the wall by the stairs dates to around 1330 and is from the church of Santa Maria de Farfanya [ ca ] in Lleida , Catalonia. Each of the six effigies are supreme examples of sepulchral art . Three are from the Bellpuig Monastery [ ca ] in Catalonia . The monument directly facing the main windows is the c. 1248–67 sarcophagus of Jean d'Alluye,
13938-433: The 1920s, he also donated a substantial amount towards the restoration and rehabilitation of major buildings in France after World War I , such as the Reims Cathedral , the Château de Fontainebleau and the Château de Versailles , for which in 1936 he was awarded France's highest decoration, the Grand-Croix de la Legion d'honneur , which also was awarded decades later to his son David Rockefeller. He also liberally funded
14140-416: The 1950s and 1960s, the pace increased drastically during the regime of Joaquín Balaguer , who took power in 1966 following the Dominican Civil War . The combination of the recent passing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 , Balaguer's policy of freely granting passports, and the country's high unemployment rate created the conditions for growing emigration from the Dominican Republic. Some of
14342-409: The 1950s by Breck. The rectangular garden hosts around 80 species of plants and contains a tall limestone cascade fountain at its center. Like those from Saint-Guilhem, the Trie cloisters have been given modern roofing. The convent at Trie-sur-Baïse featured some 80 white marble capitals carved between 1484 and 1490. Eighteen were moved to New York and contain numerous biblical scenes and incidents from
14544-451: The 1970s and 1980s. This was clear by 1990, when the proportion of Dominican New Yorkers living in households below the poverty line was 36%, more than double the citywide rate. In addition to service work, many residents found local jobs in the small-scale garment sector and factory work in New Jersey . During the late 20th century, other immigrant groups began to make their home in
14746-581: The 1970s, its academic performance continued to decline. In 1999, the school took its present form as the George Washington Educational Campus composed of four smaller schools. For the remainder of the 20th century the Dominican community of Washington Heights continued to increase considerably, most notably during the mid to late 1980s, when over 40,000 Dominicans settled in Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights , and Inwood . Around
14948-564: The Adoration of the Magi, frescoes of a lion and a wyvern , each from the Monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza in north-central Spain. On the left of the room are portraits of kings and angels, also from the monastery at Moutier-Saint-Jean. The hall contains three pairs of columns positioned over an entrance with molded archivolts. They were taken from the Augustinian church at Reugny . The Reugny site
15150-609: The Amsterdams. After continual charges of police negligence, a committee was created to combat the violence and many members of the Irish gangs were arrested. By 1944, the local Catholic Clergy were pressured to speak out against the prejudice, and Jews, Catholics, and Protestants began working together on solutions to ease the tensions. Around this time, Washington Heights also gained its first substantial population of Black residents, by 1943 numbering around 3,000 and concentrated mainly in
15352-500: The City of New York, and persons honored as trustees by the museum. The current chairman of the board is the businessman and art collector Daniel Brodsky , who was elected in 2011, having previously served on its Real Estate Council in 1984 as a trustee of the museum and Vice Chairman of the Buildings Committee. A specialist museum, the Cloisters regularly acquires new works and rarely sells or otherwise gets rid of them . While
15554-605: The Dominican monastery at Sens , Burgundy. Located on the south side of the building's main level, the Cuxa cloisters are the museum's centerpiece both structurally and thematically. They were originally erected at the Benedictine Abbey of Sant Miquel de Cuixà on Mount Canigou , in the northeast Spanish Pyrenees, which was founded in 878. The monastery was abandoned in 1791 and fell into disrepair; its roof collapsed in 1835 and its bell tower fell in 1839. About half of its stonework
15756-448: The Dutch to drive them out, including the bloody Kieft's War (1643–1645), some Wecquaesgeeks managed to maintain residence in Washington Heights up until the Dutch paid them a settlement for their last land claims in 1715. For the greater part of the next two centuries, Washington Heights would remain a home to wealthy landowners seeking a quiet location for their suburban estates. During
15958-791: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park were named after him. He was also active in the movement to save redwood trees, making a significant contribution to Save the Redwoods League in the 1920s to enable the purchase of what would become the Rockefeller Forest in Humboldt Redwoods State Park . In 1930, Rockefeller helped the federal government extend Yosemite National Park 's boundary by 15,570 acres (63.0 km ) by purchasing tracts held by timber companies for about $ 3.3 million. Rockefeller covered half of
16160-547: The Hudson River at 181st Street. Built in 1907, the mansion was demolished thirty years later for Paterno's Castle Village complex, where pieces of the original structure still remain. The neighborhood's largest estate was the property of industrial tycoon C. K. G. Billings , taking up 25 acres (10 ha) in the southern part of Fort Tryon Park. Although the Louis XIV -style mansion at present-day Linden Terrace burned to
16362-613: The IRT prompted a rapid increase in density through the proliferation of five- and six-story New Law Tenements , the vast majority of which remain. Many of the new residents came from crowded immigrant neighborhoods such as the Lower East Side , which saw its density halved between 1910 and 1930. As a result of the development of new housing, the total population of Manhattan north of 155th Street grew from just 8,000 in 1900 to 110,000 by 1920. The incoming residents of Washington Heights were
16564-488: The Metropolitan does not publish separate figures for the Cloisters, the entity as a whole spent $ 39 million on acquisitions for the fiscal year ending in June 2012. The Cloisters seeks to balance its collection between religious and secular artifacts and artworks. With secular pieces, it typically favors those that indicate the range of artistic production in the medieval period, and according to art historian Timothy Husband, "reflect
16766-432: The Metropolitan, to install a skylight. Breck wrote to Rockefeller that "by substituting a skylight for a solid ceiling ... the sculpture is properly illuminated, since the light falls in a natural way; the visitor has the sense of being in the open; and his attention, consequently, is not attracted to the modern superstructure." The Bonnefont cloisters were assembled from several French monasteries, but mostly come from
16968-513: The Morgan Library in lower Manhattan. The Cloisters' books are today displayed in the Treasury room, and include the French " Cloisters Apocalypse " (or "Book of Revelation", c. 1330, probably Normandy ), Jean Pucelle 's " Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux " (c. 1324–28), the " Psalter of Bonne de Luxembourg ", attributed to Jean Le Noir and the " Belles Heures du Duc de Berry " (c. 1399–1416) attributed to
17170-510: The South Netherlandish Nine Heroes ( c. 1385 ) and Flemish The Hunt of the Unicorn ( c. 1500 ). The Nine Heroes room is entered from the Cuxa cloisters. Its 14th-century tapestries are among the earliest surviving examples of tapestry, and are thought to be the original versions following widely influential and copied designs attributed to Nicolas Bataille. They were acquired over twenty years, involving
17372-526: The Southern Netherlands. The Unicorn tapestries were for a period used by the French army to cover potatoes and keep them from freezing. The set was purchased by Rockefeller in 1922, and six of the tapestries hung in his New York home until they were donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1938. The museum's collection of illuminated books is small but of exceptional quality. J.P. Morgan
17574-448: The Spanish church and both countries' art-historical hierarchies and governments. It was eventually exchanged in a deal that involved the transfer of six frescoes from San Baudelio de Berlanga to the Prado, on an equally long-term loan. The structure was disassembled into almost 3,300 mostly sandstone and limestone blocks, each individually cataloged, and shipped to New York in 839 crates. It
17776-612: The abbey's history and thus contain a variety of forms and abstract geometric patterns, including scrolling leaves, pine cones, sacred figures such as Christ, the Apostles , angels, and monstrous creatures including two-headed animals, lions restrained by apes, mythic hybrids , a mermaid and inhuman mouths consuming human torsos. The motifs are derived from popular fables, or represent the brute forces of nature or evil, or are based on late 11th- and 12th-century monastic writings, such as those by Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153). The order in which
17978-400: The abundance of a wide variety of flora, they were produced for Anne of Brittany and completed c. 1495 –1505. The tapestries were purchased by Rockefeller in 1922 for about one million dollars, and donated to the museum in 1937. They were cleaned and restored in 1998, and are now hung in a dedicated room on the museum's upper floor. The large "Nativity" panel (also known as "Christ
18180-556: The acquisition and restoration of the three properties that were the core of the organization's holdings. In 1986, Sleepy Hollow Restorations became Historic Hudson Valley , which also operates the current guided tours of the Rockefeller family estate of Kykuit in Pocantico Hills. He is the author of the noted life principle, among others, inscribed on a tablet facing his famed Rockefeller Center : "I believe that every right implies
18382-469: The acquisition of in situ architectural artifacts from local farmers. Barnard was primarily interested in the abbeys and churches founded by monastic orders from the 12th century. Following centuries of pillage and destruction during wars and revolutions, stones from many of these buildings were reused by local populations. A pioneer in seeing the value in such artifacts, Barnard often met with hostility to his effort from local and governmental groups. Yet he
18584-636: The architect William W. Bosworth . Purchased for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the acquisition included structures that would become the foundation and core of the museum. Rockefeller and Barnard were polar opposites in both temperament and outlook and did not get along; Rockefeller was reserved, Barnard exuberant. The English painter and art critic Roger Fry was then the Metropolitan's chief European acquisition agent and acted as an intermediary. Rockefeller eventually acquired Barnard's collection for around $ 700,000, retaining Barnard as an advisor. In 1927 Rockefeller hired Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. , son of one of
18786-468: The architectural settings of French monasteries and abbeys. Its buildings are centered around four cloisters —the Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem, Bonnefont and Trie—that were acquired by American sculptor and art dealer George Grey Barnard in France before 1913, and moved to New York. Barnard's collection was bought for the museum by financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. Other major sources of objects were
18988-559: The arrival of Mexicans and Ecuadorians , who together numbered over 6,000 by 2000 and over 10,000 a decade later. Smaller communities of Central Americans , Colombians , and Chinese immigrants had also developed. The neighborhood's African American population began to decrease from its height in the 1970s, by 2000 making up less than one-tenth of the neighborhood. In the present day Washington Heights also has an Orthodox Jewish community served by numerous synagogues , many of which have noticed more young Jewish families move into
19190-565: The art historian who is concerned with the identification of both the original work and later areas of reconstruction". Two important series of prints are kept on microfilm : the "Index photographique de l'art en France" and the German " Marburg Picture Index ". The Cloisters is governed by the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan's collections are owned by a private corporation of about 950 fellows and benefactors. The board of trustees comprise 41 elected members, several officials of
19392-535: The attack. This was followed by nine days of violence between miners, strikebreakers, the Colorado National Guard . Although he did not order the attack that began this unrest, there are accounts to suggest Junior was mostly to blame for the violence, with the awful working conditions, death ratio, and no paid dead work which included securing unstable ceilings, workers were forced into working in unsafe conditions just to make ends meet. In January 1915, Junior
19594-466: The bank folded after only a few years of operation. In a celebrated letter to Nicholas Murray Butler in June 1932, subsequently printed on the front page of The New York Times , Rockefeller, a lifelong teetotaler , argued against the continuation of the Eighteenth Amendment on the principal grounds of an increase in disrespect for the law. This letter became an important event in pushing
19796-410: The building's design and construction, which sometimes frustrated the architects and builders. The building contains architecture elements and settings taken mostly from four French abbeys, which between 1934 and 1939 were transported, reconstructed, and integrated with new buildings in a project overseen by Collins. He told Rockefeller that the new building "should present a well-studied outline done in
19998-446: The capitals were originally placed is unknown, making their interpretation especially difficult, although a sequential and continuous narrative was probably not intended. According to art historian Thomas Dale, to the monks, the "human figures, beasts, and monsters" may have represented the "tension between the world and the cloister, the struggle to repress the natural inclinations of the body". The Saint-Guilhem cloisters were taken from
20200-493: The central area west of Broadway, and drastically in the area north of 181st Street, populating the last of the undeveloped areas just south and west of Fort Tryon Park. Transit for new residents was improved with the construction of the Independent Subway System (IND)'s Eighth Avenue Line in 1932, with stops at 175th Street , 181st Street , and 190th Street along Fort Washington Avenue . The demographics of
20402-425: The church of Sankt Leonhard , in southern Austria, from c. 1340. The glass panels include a depiction of Martin of Tours as well as complex medallion patterns. The glass on the east wall comes from Évron Abbey , Maine , and dates from around 1325. The apse contains three large sculptures by the main windows; two larger than life-size female saints dating from the 14th century, and a Burgundian Bishop dating from
20604-553: The collection are characterized by vivid colors and often abstract designs and patterns; many have a devotional image as a centerpiece. The majority of these works are in the museum's Boppard room, named after the Carmelite church of Saint Severinus in Boppard , near Koblenz , Germany. The collection's pot-metal works (from the High Gothic period) highlight the effects of light, especially
20806-442: The collection of Joseph Brummer. The rooms contain the museum's collection of illuminated manuscripts, the French 13th-century arm-shaped silver reliquary, and a 15th-century deck of playing cards . The Cloisters contains one of the Metropolitan's 13 libraries. Focusing on medieval art and architecture, it holds over 15,000 volumes of books and journals, the museum's archive administration papers, curatorial papers, dealer records and
21008-407: The collections of J. P. Morgan and Joseph Brummer . The museum's building was designed by the architect Charles Collens , on a site on a steep hill, with upper and lower levels. It contains medieval gardens and a series of chapels and themed galleries, including the Romanesque, Fuentidueña, Unicorn, Spanish, and Gothic rooms. The design, layout, and ambiance of the building are intended to evoke
21210-524: The complex, including GE and its then affiliates RCA , NBC and RKO , as well as Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil ), Associated Press , Time Inc , and branches of Chase National Bank (now JP Morgan Chase ). The family office, of which he was in charge, shifted from 26 Broadway to the 56th floor of the landmark 30 Rockefeller Plaza upon its completion in 1933. The office formally became "Rockefeller Family and Associates" (and informally, "Room 5600"). In 1921, Junior received about 10% of
21412-450: The conditions of the homes and the factories, attend social events, and especially to listen closely to the grievances. This was novel advice and attracted widespread media attention, which opened the way to resolve the conflict, and present a more humanized version of the Rockefellers. Mackenzie King said Rockefeller's testimony was the turning point in Junior's life, restoring the reputation of
21614-403: The corner of 160th Street and Broadway for their widely publicized undercover crack purchase, and in 1989, The New York Times called the neighborhood "the crack capital of America". By 1990, crack's impact on crime was evident: 103 murders were committed in the 34th Precinct that year, along with 1,130 felony assaults, 1,919 robberies, and 2,647 burglaries. The causes behind the severity of
21816-410: The corner of 162nd Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue . Although evidence later supported that the killing was a reaction to violence initiated by Garcia, many residents quickly suspected wanton police brutality . The suspicion was not unfounded, as O'Keefe already had several civilian complaints of unnecessary aggression in arrests. What began as a peaceful demonstration for Garcia's death turned into
22018-734: The cost. In 1951, he established Sleepy Hollow Restorations , which brought together under one administrative body the management and operation of two historic sites he had acquired: Philipsburg Manor House in North Tarrytown, now called Sleepy Hollow (acquired in 1940 and donated to the Tarrytown Historical Society), and Sunnyside , Washington Irving 's home, acquired in 1945. He bought Van Cortland Manor in Croton-on-Hudson in 1953 and in 1959 donated it to Sleepy Hollow Restorations. In all, he invested more than $ 12 million in
22220-518: The crisis for Washington Heights, however, were more intricate. One was the neighborhood's location: the George Washington Bridge and its numerous highway connections made for easy access from the New Jersey suburbs. Another contributing factor was that as Dominican dealers such as Santiago Luis Polanco Rodríguez brought the group higher status in cocaine operations, the heavily-Dominican Washington Heights became increasingly important as
22422-519: The dedication of an auditorium built-in memory of the organizers of Phi Beta Kappa , the honorary scholastic fraternity founded in Williamsburg in 1776. Rockefeller was a member of the society and had helped pay for the auditorium. He had visited Williamsburg the previous March, when the Reverend Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin escorted him—along with his wife Abby, and their sons, David, Laurance, and Winthrop—on
22624-513: The designers of Central Park , and the Olmsted Brothers firm to create a park in the Fort Washington area. In February 1930 Rockefeller offered to build the Cloisters for the Metropolitan. Under consultation with Bosworth, he decided to build the museum at a 66.5-acre (26.9 ha) site at Fort Tryon Park, which they chose for its elevation, views, and accessible but isolated location. The land and existing buildings were purchased that year from
22826-442: The dominant group by the 1980s despite facing economic difficulties, leading the neighborhood to its status in the 21st century as the most prominent Dominican community in the United States. While crime became a serious issue during the crack cocaine crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, in the 2000s Washington Heights became a much safer community and began to experience some upward mobility as well as gentrification . Washington Heights
23028-609: The doorway represent the early Frankish kings Clovis I (d. 511) and his son Chlothar I (d. 561). The piers are lined with elaborate and highly detailed rows of statuettes, which are mostly set in niches , and are badly damaged; most have been decapitated. The heads on the right-hand capital were for a time believed to represent Henry II of England . Seven capitals survive from the original church, with carvings of human figures or heads, some of which have been identified as historical persons, including Eleanor of Aquitaine . The Romanesque hall contains three large church doorways, with
23230-404: The early design phase of the museum's construction, as well as historical photographic collections. These include photographs of medieval objects from the collection of George Joseph Demotte , and a series taken during and just after World War II showing damage sustained to monuments and artifacts, including tomb effigies. They are, according to curator Lauren Jackson-Beck, of "prime importance to
23432-589: The extension of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s first subway line (now part of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line ). The IRT built the 157th Street , 168th Street , 181st Street , and Dyckman Street stations between 1904 and 1906 (the 191st Street station opened as an infill station in 1911). Although skyrocketing land values sparked early predictions that upper-class apartment buildings would dominate
23634-509: The fabric of daily [medieval European] life but also endure as works of art in their own right". In 2011 it purchased the then-recently discovered The Falcon's Bath , a Southern Netherlands tapestry dated c. 1400–1415. It is of exceptional quality, and one of the best preserved surviving examples of its type. Other recent acquisitions of significance include the 2015 purchase of a Book of Hours attributed to Simon Bening . The museum's architectural settings, atmosphere, and acoustics have made it
23836-537: The family name; it also heralded a new era of industrial relations in the country. During the Great Depression , he was involved in the financing, development, and construction of the Rockefeller Center , a vast office complex in midtown Manhattan , and as a result, became one of the largest real estate holders in New York City . He was influential in attracting leading blue-chip corporations as tenants in
24038-737: The family still retained about 1% of the bank's shares, by which time his son David had become the bank's president. In the late 1920s, Rockefeller founded the Dunbar National Bank in Harlem . The financial institution was located within the Paul Laurence Dunbar Apartments at 2824 Eighth Avenue near 150th Street, servicing a primarily African-American clientele. It was unique among New York City financial institutions in that it employed African Americans as tellers, clerks and bookkeepers as well as in key management positions. However,
24240-464: The first half of the 20th century, tensions broke out between Catholics and Jews, who were not very segregated residentially but remained in separate social spheres. Around the start of World War II Irish groups such as the Christian Front arose, drawing large crowds to their antisemitic rallies, coupled with the vandalism of synagogues and beating of Jewish youth by Irish youth in gangs such as
24442-643: The four sides of its lower arms. Further pieces of note include a 13th-century English Enthroned Virgin and Child statuette, a c. 1490 German statue of Saint Barbara , and an early 16th-century boxwood Miniature Altarpiece with the Crucifixion . Other significant works include fountains and baptismal fonts, chairs, aquamaniles (water containers in animal or human form), bronze lavers, alms boxes and playing cards. The museum has an extensive collection of medieval European frescoes , ivory statuettes, reliquary wood and metal shrines and crosses, as well as examples of
24644-861: The funding for the construction of the Palestine Archaeological Museum in East Jerusalem – the Rockefeller Museum – which today houses many antiquities and was the home of many of the Dead Sea Scrolls until they were moved to the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum . He had a special interest in conservation, and purchased and donated land for many American National Parks , including Grand Teton (hiding his involvement and intentions behind
24846-653: The greatest trophy apartment in New York, in the world's richest apartment building. In 1929, Junior was elected an honorary member of the Georgia Society of the Cincinnati . In 1935, he received The Hundred Year Association of New York 's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." In 1939, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society under statute 12. The John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library at Brown University , completed in 1964,
25048-643: The ground in 1925, Billings Terrace remains, supported by the elegant stone archway that originally led to the Billings mansion. Initial residential development in Washington Heights began in the late 19th century with the construction of row and wood-frame houses in the southern portion of the neighborhood, particularly near Amsterdam Avenue . In 1886, the Third Avenue Railway was extended from 125th Street to 155th Street along Amsterdam Avenue. However, higher residential density would not be supported until
25250-645: The highest level of a rich and powerful social structure of later fourteenth-century France". The Hunt of the Unicorn room can be entered from the hall containing the Nine Heroes via an early 16th-century door carved with representations of unicorns. The unicorn tapestries consist of a series of large, colourful hangings and fragment textiles designed in Paris and woven in Brussels or Liège. Noted for their vivid colourization—dominated by blue, yellow-brown, red, and gold hues—and
25452-785: The historical landmarks the Little Red Lighthouse , the High Bridge Water Tower , and the Cloisters respectively. Other points of interest include Audubon Terrace , the Morris–Jumel Mansion , the United Palace , the Audubon Ballroom , and the Fort Washington Avenue Armory . Washington Heights is part of Manhattan Community District 12 , and its primary ZIP Codes are 10032, 10033, and 10040. It
25654-543: The incident illustrated the effects of the neighborhood's demographic shift: the Jesters defined themselves as fighting against Black and Latino occupancy of the neighborhood even as they included newly arrived Black people in their ranks (similar diversity was seen in the membership of the Dragons and Egyptian Kings). While signs were slowly appearing for the first half of the 20th century that Washington Heights would not forever be
25856-408: The individual works, including capitals, doorways, stained glass, and windows are placed within the architectural elements themselves. The museum's best-known panel painting is Robert Campin 's c. 1425–28 Mérode Altarpiece , a foundational work in the development of Early Netherlandish painting , which has been at The Cloisters since 1956. Its acquisition was funded by Rockefeller and described at
26058-528: The initial migrants were left-wing revolutionaries exiled by the Balaguer regime, theorized to have been granted visas through an unwritten agreement with the United States, but the majority of arrivals came for better economic opportunities. In Quisqueya on the Hudson: The Transnational Identity of Dominicans in Washington Heights, Jorge Duany describes how Washington Heights developed as
26260-460: The instigation of his wife, he provided crucial funding for Margaret Sanger –who had previously been a personal opponent to him due to his treatment of workers–in her work on birth control and involvement in population issues. He donated $ 5,000 to her American Birth Control League in 1924 and a second time in 1925. In the arts, he gave extensive property he owned on West 54th Street in Manhattan for
26462-529: The left hand wall facing the chapel's south windows. It is supported by three stone lions, and a grouping of mourners carved into the slab , which also shows Christ in Majesty flanked by the Twelve Apostles . The three other Urgell tombs also date to the mid 13th century, and maybe of Àlvar of Urgell and his second wife, Cecilia of Foix, the parents of Ermengol X, and that of a young boy, possibly Ermengol IX ,
26664-453: The lives of saints. Several of the carvings are secular, including those of legendary figures such as Saint George and the Dragon , the " wild man " confronting a grotesque monster, and a grotesque head wearing an unusual and fanciful hat. The capitals are placed in chronological order, beginning with God in the act of creation at the northwest corner, Adam and Eve in the west gallery, followed by
26866-544: The main portal of the abbey, and was probably built as the south transept door. Carvings on the elaborate white oolitic limestone doorway depict the Coronation of the Virgin and contains foliated capitals and statuettes on the outer piers; including two kings positioned in the embrasures and various kneeling angels. Carvings of angels are placed in the archivolts above the kings. The large figurative sculptures on either side of
27068-616: The main visitor entrance adjoining the Guilhem Cloister. The monumental arched Burgundian doorway is from Moutier-Saint-Jean de Réôme in France and dates to c. 1150. Two animals are carved into the keystones ; both rest on their hind legs as if about to attack each other. The capitals are lined with carvings of both real and imagined animals and birds, as well as leaves and other fauna. The two earlier doorways are from Reugny, Allier , and Poitou in central France. The hall contains four large early-13th-century stone sculptures representing
27270-509: The major New York real estate developer William Zeckendorf —the land along the East River in Manhattan which he later donated for the United Nations headquarters . This was after he had vetoed the family estate at Pocantico as a prospective site for the headquarters (see Kykuit ). Another UN connection was his early financial support for its predecessor, the League of Nations ; this included
27472-541: The maximum amount of light. The windows were originally set within imposing fortress walls; according to the art historian Bonnie Young "these small windows and the massive, fortress-like walls contribute to the feeling of austerity ... typical of Romanesque churches." The Langon chapel is on the museum's ground level. Its right wall was built around 1126 for the Romanesque Cathédrale Notre-Dame-du-Bourg de Digne . The chapter house consists of
27674-422: The museum in 1969. Produced in tempera , grisaille, ink, and gold leaf on vellum , it had been rarely studied and was, until that point, misattributed to Jean Pucelle . Following its acquisition, it was studied by art historians, after which attribution was given to Le Noir. While examples of textile art are displayed throughout the museum, there are two dedicated rooms given to individual series of tapestries ,
27876-512: The museum's architectural structure came from the collection of George Grey Barnard , an American sculptor and collector who almost single-handedly established a medieval art museum near his home in the Fort Washington section of Upper Manhattan . Although he was a successful sculptor who had studied at the Art Institute of Chicago , his income was not enough to support his family. Barnard
28078-435: The museum's upper level and are much smaller than originally built. Its garden contains a central fountain and plants potted in ornate containers, including a 15th-century glazed earthenware vase. The area is covered by a skylight and plate glass panels that conserve heat in the winter months. Rockefeller had initially wanted a high roof and clerestory windows, but was convinced by Joseph Breck , curator of decorative arts at
28280-462: The nascent industrial relations movement; along with major chief executives of the time, he incorporated Industrial Relations Counselors (IRC) in 1926, a consulting firm whose main goal was to establish industrial relations as a recognized academic discipline at Princeton University and other institutions. It succeeded through the support of prominent corporate chieftains of the time, such as Owen D. Young and Gerard Swope of General Electric . In
28482-680: The nation to repeal Prohibition . Rockefeller was known for his philanthropy , giving over $ 537 million to myriad causes over his lifetime compared to $ 240 million to his own family. He created the Sealantic Fund in 1938 to channel gifts to his favorite causes; previously his main philanthropic organization had been the Davison Fund. He had become the Rockefeller Foundation 's inaugural president in May 1913 and proceeded to dramatically expand
28684-435: The natives frequently reciprocating. The Dutch referred to the elevated area of northwestern Washington Heights as "Long Hill" while the Fort Tryon Park area specifically carried the name "Forest Hill". None of the land in present-day Washington Heights was under private ownership until 1712, when it was parcelled out in lots to various landowners from the village of Harlem to the south. Even after repeated attempts by
28886-415: The neighborhood as well. In the late 1970s and early 1980s a moderate influx of Soviet Jews occurred following a loosening of the country's emigration policy, predominantly professionals and artists pushed out by antisemitism and drawn by economic opportunity. The makeup of the neighborhood's Latino population also began to diversify beyond an exclusively Caribbean background, most prominently through
29088-499: The neighborhood during the 2000s. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Washington Heights was severely affected by the crack cocaine epidemic , as was the rest of New York City. Washington Heights had become one of the largest drug distribution centers in the Northeastern United States , bringing a negative reputation to Dominican Americans as a group. Then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani and Senator Alphonse D'Amato chose
29290-534: The neighborhood were undergoing significant change. While the Protestant population remained stagnant, first- and second-generation Irish and Eastern European Jews continued to move in. By 1930, nearly a quarter of Manhattan's Jewish residents lived north of 155th Street. The neighborhood also saw an influx of German Jews escaping Nazism in the 1930s and 1940s, a history documented by Steven M. Lowenstein's book Frankfurt-on-the-Hudson (a nickname referencing
29492-493: The neighborhood, such development was limited in the pre- World War I period to the Audubon Park area west of Broadway and south of 158th Street. Buildings such as the 13-story Riviera included elaborate decor and generous amenities to attract higher-paying tenants. The southern and eastern parts of Washington Heights experienced a construction boom in the years leading up to World War I . The downtown access provided by
29694-562: The neighborhood. This attitude was expressed in a phrase heard in the time period: "Washington Heights begins where Harlem ends." In fact, many of the neighborhood's new Jewish arrivals had left from Harlem as it became increasingly populated by Black people from the South during the Great Migration . Despite the growth of the Black population, racial segregation remained very rigid. While in
29896-452: The northwest corner of 181st Street and Broadway (then Kingsbridge Road) was the Blue Bell Tavern, built in the early-mid 18th century as an inn and site of social gatherings. When New York's Provincial Congress assented to the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776, the head of the statue of George III ended up on a spike at the Blue Bell Tavern, broken off by a "rowdy" group of civilians and soldiers at Bowling Green . During
30098-436: The notable early excavations at Luxor in Egypt, and the American School of Classical Studies for excavation of the Agora and the reconstruction of the Stoa of Attalos, both in Athens; the American Academy in Rome; Lingnan University in China; St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo; the library of the Imperial University in Tokyo; and the Shakespeare Memorial Endowment at Stratford-on-Avon . In addition, he provided
30300-451: The old Wecquaesgeek trail which travelled along the Hudson Valley from Lower Manhattan all the way through Albany . On the plateau west of Broadway between 175th and 181st streets, the residents had been cultivating crops in a field known to Dutch colonists as the "Great Maize Field". Arriving in 1623, the Dutch initially worked as trade partners with the American Indians but became more and more hostile as time went on, with
30502-426: The only one of their direct line ancestors known to have died in youth. The slabs of the double tomb on the wall opposite Ermengol VII, contain the effigies of his parents, and have been slanted forward to offer a clear view of the stonework. The heads are placed on cushions, which are decorated with arms. The male's feet rest on a dog, while the cushion under the woman's head is held by an angel. The Fuentidueña chapel
30704-410: The origin city of many in the diaspora). One attractive aspect of Washington Heights for German Jews was likely its Eastern European Jewish presence, but an economic pull was its abundance of housing stock from the 1920s construction boom. Although rents were higher than average, many landlords offered some free rent to draw new tenants, and apartments were nonetheless spacious for their cost. In
30906-471: The original founders of Alcoholics Anonymous , and others at a dinner to tell their stories. "News of this got out on the world wires; inquiries poured in again and many people went to the bookstores to get the book, Alcoholics Anonymous ." Rockefeller offered to pay for the publication of the book, but in keeping with AA traditions of being self-supporting, AA rejected the money. Through negotiations by his son Nelson , in 1946 he bought for $ 8.5 million—from
31108-409: The owner cancelled all the tenants' leases and began renting exclusively to Black people. While organizations like the Neighborhood Protective Association of Washington Heights had kept the neighborhood virtually all-White throughout much of the 20th century, the overcrowded conditions of Harlem led to growth in demand for apartments outside the neighborhood. Throughout the 1940s, the building had
31310-469: The past decades. The crime drop, which was felt across all major U.S. cities, owed itself largely to the decrease in new users and dealers of crack cocaine, and the move of existing dealers from dealing on the streets to dealing from inside apartments. In Washington Heights, this meant a move back to the established cocaine dealing culture that had existed before the introduction of crack. As Terry Williams observes in The Cocaine Kids: The Inside Story of
31512-410: The period. The book was in Switzerland by 1368, possibly at the abbey of Zofingen , in the canton of Aargau . It was acquired by the Met in 1968. The "Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux" is a very small early Gothic book of hours containing 209 folios, of which 25 are full-page miniatures. It is lavishly decorated in grisaille drawings, historiated initials and almost 700 border images . Jeanne d'Évreux
31714-407: The personal papers of Barnard, as well as early glass lantern slides of museum materials, manuscript facsimiles , scholarly records, maps and recordings of musical performances at the museum. The library functions primarily as a resource for museum staff, but is available by appointment to researchers, art dealers, academics and students. The archives contain early sketches and blueprints made during
31916-479: The preeminent form of Gothic medieval monumental painting". She bought c. 1500 heraldic windows from the Rhineland , now in the Campin room with the Mérode Altarpiece . Hayward's addition in 1980 led to a redesign of the room so that the installed pieces would echo the domestic setting of the altarpiece. She wrote that the Campin room is the only gallery in the Met "where domestic rather than religious art predominates...a conscious effort has been made to create
32118-467: The public school system and the broader trend of White flight, while the Black and Latino student population rapidly increased. This resulted in a stark gap between the district's few racially integrated schools, which enjoyed better academic reputations and access to resources, and the remainder of schools with very few White students and serious overcrowding problems. Fierce competition between different factions for educational funding and new schools
32320-437: The public was not allowed to visit until four days later. Rockefeller financed the purchase of many of the early collection of works, often buying independently and then donating the items to the museum. His financing of the museum has led to it being described as "perhaps the supreme example of curatorial genius working in exquisite harmony with vast wealth". The second major donor was the industrialist J. P. Morgan , founder of
32522-529: The purchase of more than 20 fragments which were then sewn together during a long reassembly process. The chivalric figures represent the scriptural and legendary Nine Worthies , who consist of three pagans ( Hector , Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar ), three Jews ( Joshua , David and Judas Maccabeus ) and three Christians ( King Arthur , Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon ). Of these, five figures survive: Hector, Caesar, Joshua, David and Arthur. They have been described as representing "in their variety,
32724-409: The rate of this trend varied among different groups. One of the most pronounced changes occurred with Greek immigrants, who had reached their peak in the 1950s with the establishment of St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church and an accompanying school, only to see that in two decades nearly all of the congregation had left for the suburbs. On the other hand, the German Jewish exodus was characterized by
32926-516: The real estate developer William Zeckendorf bought the 740 Park Avenue apartment complex and then sold it to Rockefeller, who quickly turned the building into a cooperative , selling it on to his rich neighbors in the building. Years later, just after his son Nelson become Governor of New York, Rockefeller helped foil a bid by greenmailer Saul Steinberg to take over Chemical Bank . Steinberg bought Junior's apartment for $ 225,000, $ 25,000 less than it had cost new in 1929. It has since been called
33128-458: The rooms and halls are divided between an upper entrance and a ground-floor level. The enclosing exterior building is mostly modern, and is influenced by and contains elements from the 13th-century church at Saint-Geraud at Monsempron , France, from which the northeast end of the building borrows especially. It was mostly designed by the architect Charles Collens , who took influence from works in Barnard's collection. Rockefeller closely managed both
33330-407: The same year. In 1776, the house was commandeered as a headquarters by George Washington, and after changing hands a few times was purchased by Stephen and Eliza Jumel in 1810. In 1903, the City bought the mansion and it became a museum, the oldest surviving house in Manhattan. With a picturesque view of the Palisades , the elevated ridge of northwest Washington Heights became the site of
33532-465: The school better prepared for college, and violence frequently broke out among gangs identifying by race. Discontent with academics and school policy led to a wave of student demonstrations, supported by a group of parents who pushed to set up an information table in the school's lobby in order to answer questions and hear complaints regarding the school. However, the United Federation of Teachers – which had also clashed with students and parents over
33734-413: The scope of this institution, founded by his father. Later he would become involved in other organizations set up by Senior: Rockefeller University and the International Education Board. In the social sciences, he founded the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial in 1918, which was subsequently folded into the Rockefeller Foundation in 1929. A committed internationalist, he financially supported programs of
33936-405: The shares of the Equitable Trust Company from his father, making him the bank's largest shareholder. Subsequently, in 1930, Equitable merged with Chase National Bank, making Chase the largest bank in the world at the time. Although his stockholding was reduced to about 4% following this merger, he was still the largest shareholder in what became known as "the Rockefeller bank". As late as the 1960s,
34138-511: The site of the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert , and date from 804 AD to the 1660s. Their acquisition around 1906 was one of Barnard's early purchases. The transfer to New York involved the movement of around 140 pieces, including capitals, columns and pilasters. The carvings on the marble piers and column shafts recall Roman sculpture and are coiled by extravagant foliage, including vines . The capitals contain acanthus leaves and grotesque heads peering out, including figures at
34340-415: The site of the Museum of Modern Art , which had been co-founded by his wife in 1929. In 1925, he purchased the George Grey Barnard collection of medieval art and cloister fragments for the Metropolitan Museum of Art . He also purchased land north of the original site, now Fort Tryon Park , for a new building, The Cloisters . In November 1926, Rockefeller came to the College of William and Mary for
34542-410: The site of the present-day Little Red Lighthouse . Washington Heights is part of the section of northern Manhattan that was settled by the Wecquaesgeeks (originally a name for the area meaning "birch-bark country"), a band of the Wappinger and a Lenape Native American people. The winding path of Broadway north of 168th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue to its south is living evidence of
34744-400: The south along 155th Street , by the Harlem River and Coogan's Bluff to the east, and by the Hudson River to the west. Washington Heights, which before the 20th century was sparsely populated by luxurious mansions and single-family homes, rapidly developed during the early 1900s as it became connected to the rest of Manhattan via the Broadway–Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue lines of
34946-409: The southeastern part of the neighborhood. The Black population of Washington Heights was dwarfed, however, by that of Hamilton Heights , where White residents were 63% of the population in 1943. It was in this period that the popular boundary of Washington Heights shifted from 135th Street to 155th Street, as many residents of European descent refused to include African Americans in their conception of
35148-627: The time as a "major event for the history of collecting in the United States". The triptych is well preserved with little overpainting , glossing, dirt layers or paint loss. Other panel paintings in the collection include a Nativity triptych altarpiece attributed to a follower of Rogier van der Weyden , and the Jumieges panels by an unknown French master. The 12th-century English walrus ivory Cloisters Cross contains more than 92 intricately carved figures and 98 inscriptions. A similar 12th-century French metalwork reliquary cross contains six sequences of engravings on either side of its shaft, and across
35350-437: The time". The "Belles Heures" is widely regarded as one of the finest extant examples of manuscript illumination, and very few books of hours are as richly decorated. It is the only surviving complete book attributed to the Limbourg brothers. Rockefeller purchased the book from Maurice de Rothschild in 1954, and donated it to the Metropolitan. The very small "Bonne de Luxembourg" manuscript (each leaf 12.5 × 8.4 × 3.9 cm)
35552-410: The transitions between darkness, shadow and illumination. The Met's collection grew in the early 20th century when Raymond Picairn made acquisitions at a time when medieval glass was not highly regarded by connoisseurs, and was difficult to extract and transport. Jane Hayward, a curator at the museum from 1969 who began the museum's second phase of acquisition, describes stained glass as "unquestioningly
35754-469: The vast majority of blocks less than 2% of housing units were occupied by non-White residents, nearly every block east of Amsterdam Avenue and south of 165th Street was over 90% non-White by 1950. The process underlying this segregation is exemplified in the history of one of Washington Heights' most famous apartment buildings: 555 Edgecombe Avenue . Built in 1914, the fourteen-story building rented to various relatively affluent White people until 1939, when
35956-403: The very rare Gothic boxwood miniatures . It has liturgical metalwork vessels and rare pieces of Gothic furniture and metalwork. Many pieces are not associated with a particular architectural setting, so their placement in the museum may vary. Some of the objects have dramatic provenance, including those plundered from the estates of aristocrats during the French Revolutionary Army 's occupation of
36158-415: The very simplest form of stonework growing naturally out of the rocky hill-top. After looking through the books in the Boston Athenaeum ... we found a building at Monsempron in Southern France of a type which would lend itself in a very satisfactory manner to such a treatment." The architects sought to both memorialize the north hill's role in the American Revolution and to provide a sweeping view over
36360-432: The victory; its lesser fortification at present-day Fort Tryon Park was renamed for Sir William Tryon , the last governor of New York before it was taken back by the Continental Army. The park holds a plaque dedicated in 1909 to Margaret Corbin , an American who took over at her husband's cannon after his death in the Battle of Fort Washington; she was also honored with the naming of Margaret Corbin Drive in 1977. At
36562-466: The way. He claimed to have found the tomb effigy of Jean d'Alluye face down, in use as a bridge over a small stream. By 1914 he had gathered enough artifacts to open a gallery in Manhattan. Barnard often neglected his personal finances, and was so disorganized that he often misplaced the origin or provenance of his purchases. He sold his collection to John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1925 during one of his recurring monetary crises. The two had been introduced by
36764-450: The world's most important collections of specialized gardens. The garden's design was overseen by Rorimer during the museum's construction. He was aided by Margaret B. Freeman , who conducted extensive research into the keeping of plants and their symbolism in the Middle Ages. Today the gardens are tended by a staff of horticulturalists ; the senior members are also historians of 13th- and 14th-century gardening techniques. The Gothic chapel
36966-430: The year 2000, the Dominican community reached its peak and became a slim majority of Washington Heights and Inwood, propelling the neighborhoods' combined population to 208,000, the highest level since 1950. Even as they arrived in great numbers, Dominicans who came to the neighborhood faced a difficult economic situation, with many of the manufacturing jobs they disproportionately occupied having disappeared throughout
37168-414: Was a group of fortifications on the high points of Washington Heights, with its central site at present-day Bennett Park (known then as Mount Washington) built a few months prior opposite Fort Lee, New Jersey to protect the Hudson River from enemy ships. Under British control, the position was renamed Fort Knyphausen for the Hessian general Wilhelm von Knyphausen , who played a major part in
37370-442: Was a major early donor, but although his taste leaned heavily towards rare printed and illuminated books, he donated very few to the Metropolitan, instead preserving them at the Morgan Library. At the same time, the consensus within the Met was that the Cloisters should focus on architectural elements, sculpture and decorative arts to enhance the environmental quality of the institution, whereas manuscripts were considered more suited to
37572-490: Was a risk taker and led most of his life on the edge of poverty. He moved to Paris in 1883 where he studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts . He lived in the village of Moret-sur-Loing , near Fontainebleau , between 1905 and 1913, and began to deal in 13th- and 14th-century European objects to supplement his earnings. In the process he built a large personal collection of what he described as "antiques", at first by buying and selling stand-alone objects with French dealers, then by
37774-416: Was an American financier and philanthropist. Rockefeller was the fifth child and only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller . He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in Midtown Manhattan known as Rockefeller Center , making him one of the largest real estate holders in the city. Towards the end of his life, he was famous for his philanthropy, donating over $ 500 million to
37976-479: Was an astute negotiator who had the advantage of a professional sculptor's eye for superior stone carving, and by 1907 he had built a high-quality collection at relatively low cost. Reputedly he paid $ 25,000 for the Trie buildings, $ 25,000 for the Bonnefort and $ 100,000 for the Cuxa cloisters. His success led him to adopt a somewhat romantic view of himself. He recalled bicycling across the French countryside and unearthing fallen and long-forgotten Gothic masterworks along
38178-441: Was badly damaged during the French Wars of Religion and again during the French Revolution. Most of the structures had been sold to a local man, Piere-Yon Verniere, by 1850, and were acquired by Barnard in 1906. The Treasury room was opened in 1988 to celebrate the museum's 50th anniversary. It largely consists of small luxury objects acquired by the Met after it had built its initial collection, and draws heavily on acquisitions from
38380-448: Was born on January 29, 1874, in Cleveland, Ohio . He was the fifth and youngest child of Standard Oil co-founder John Davison Rockefeller Sr. and schoolteacher Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman . His four older sisters were Elizabeth (Bessie) , Alice (who died an infant), Alta , and Edith . Living in his father's mansion at 4 West 54th Street , he attended Park Avenue Baptist Church at 64th Street (now Central Presbyterian Church) and
38582-401: Was called to testify before the Commission on Industrial Relations . Many critics blamed Rockefeller for ordering the massacre. Margaret Sanger wrote an attack piece in her magazine The Woman Rebel , declaring, "But remember Ludlow! Remember the men and women and children who were sacrificed in order that John D. Rockefeller Jr., might continue his noble career of charity and philanthropy as
38784-437: Was common for police and detectives to note unresponsiveness from residents during murder inquiries. Overall distrust of the police may have stemmed from the perception of corruption, which was alleged numerous times concerning the 34th Precinct overlooking drug crimes for bribes. Tensions between residents and the NYPD came to a head on July 4, 1992, when José "Kiko" Garcia was shot by 34th Precinct Officer Michael O'Keefe on
38986-457: Was compounded by the disproportionate representation of the majority-White northwestern Heights on the board, creating an environment in which public meetings were plagued by incivility and at times even violence. George Washington High School, located on 193rd Street and Audubon Avenue near Highbridge Park , faced numerous issues representative of the changes and conflicts of the neighborhood's public schools, which intersected in 1970 to produce
39188-445: Was deconstructed and moved to a city lot to make room for new development in 1931, only for its remnants to vanish without a trace. On the eastern side, by Edgecombe Avenue between 160th and 162nd streets, the Morris–Jumel Mansion has been successfully preserved to this day. The land of the estate had been owned by Jan Kiersen and her son-in-law Jacob Dyckman before it was bought by British colonel Roger Morris in 1765 and completed
39390-455: Was demolished in 2021 after denial of its landmark status. Before the apartment development of the 20th century, many wealthy citizens built grand mansions in Washington Heights. The most famous landowner in the southwest part of the neighborhood was ornithologist John James Audubon , whose estate encompassed the 20 acres (8.1 ha) from 155th to 158th Street west of Broadway. A mystery surrounds his family home by Riverside Drive , which
39592-488: Was moved to New York between 1906 and 1907. The installation became one of the first major undertakings by the Metropolitan after it acquired Barnard's collection. After intensive work over the fall and winter of 1925–26, the Cuxa cloisters were opened to the public on April 1, 1926. The quadrangle -shaped garden once formed a center around which monks slept in cells. The original garden seemed to have been lined by walkways around adjoining arches lined with capitals enclosing
39794-475: Was perpetrated by an alliance of the African American Egyptian Kings and the Puerto Rican Dragons, both based in West Harlem just south of the Heights. The supposed motive for the attack was to counter the perception that Highbridge Pool was "owned" by the Jesters, and Black and Latino youths were often called racial slurs and chased away from the surrounding blocks. As Eric Schneider analyzes in Vampires, Dragons, and Egyptian Kings: Youth Gangs in Postwar New York,
39996-410: Was reconstructed at the Cloisters in the late 1940s The build was large and complex enough that it required the demolition of the former "Special Exhibition Room". The chapel was opened to the public in 1961, seven years after its installation had begun. The apse consists of a broad arch leading to a barrel vault , and culminates with a half-dome. The capitals at the entrance contain representations of
40198-562: Was seen at the time as the consummate marriage of capitalism and politics. She was a daughter of Senator Aldrich and Abigail Pearce Truman "Abby" Chapman. Moreover, their wedding was the major social event of its time – one of the most lavish of the Gilded Age . It was held at the Aldrich Mansion at Warwick Neck, Rhode Island , and attended by executives of Standard Oil and other companies. The couple had six children; Abby in 1903, John III in 1906, Nelson in 1908, Laurance in 1910, Winthrop in 1912, and David in 1915. Abby died of
40400-463: Was the 9-story mansion at 10 West 54th Street, but he owned a group of properties in this vicinity, including Nos. 4, 12, 14 and 16 (some of these properties had been previously acquired by his father, John D. Rockefeller ). After he vacated No. 10 in 1936, these properties were razed and subsequently all the land was gifted to his wife's Museum of Modern Art . In that year he moved into a luxurious 40-room triplex apartment at 740 Park Avenue . In 1953,
40602-446: Was the scene of numerous conflicts over de facto racial segregation and unequal resource distribution within the district's schools. The School Decentralization Act, passed by the New York State Legislature in 1969, set up elected boards for New York City's school districts with limited hiring power and control over Title I funds. At the time, District 6's demographics were rapidly changing due to White students' withdrawal from
40804-490: Was the third wife of Charles IV of France , and after their deaths the book went into the possession of Charles' brother, Jean, duc de Berry . The use of grisaille (shades of gray) drawings allowed the artist to give the figures a highly sculptural form, and the miniatures contain structures typical of French Gothic architecture of the period. The book has been described as "the high point of Parisian court painting", and evidence of "the unprecedentedly refined artistic tastes of
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