The cloister of St.-Guilhem-le-Désert at The Cloisters in New York City

The cloister elements from St.-Guilhem-le-Désert, kept at The Cloisters in New York City - the medieval branch museum of The Metropolitan Museum of Art - serve as a fascinating American case study for the acquisition of medieval art in the twentieth century and the later construction of a museum. One of the core elements of The Cloisters Collection, these pieces of sculpture form an integral part of the building and were recognized as crucial elements in the design of The Cloisters from the beginning of the planning process in 1930. The material from St.-Guilhem-le Désert has, until now, remained largely unpublished. The history of the sculpture is traced from its original site outside Montpellier, France, to its ultimate inclusion in The Cloisters Collection in New York. Using archival resources, the negotiation process and eventual acquisition by The Metropolitan Museum of Art have been reconstructed. This book places the sculpture from St. Guilhem- le-Désert in its art historical context, examining the sources and influences of its decorative program. In addition, the material is surveyed from a museological viewpoint. The methodology of its display, innovative for its time, is discussed and documented. The „St. Guilhem-Gallery,“ housing the elements from St.-Guilhem-le-Désert, is revealed as a carefully designed stageset, of which the visitor is completely unaware. Inspired by contemporary medieval monuments, the architect and staff of The Cloisters deliberately set out to evoke the atmosphere of a medieval setting without recreating any specific sites. As a result, the present building combines medieval building tradition with twentieth-century construction techniques. The „St.-Guilhem-Gallery“ epitomizes this fusion between the medieval and modern aesthetic.