Medieval Jewish Treasures in NYC (reject)

[Rachel NewYork]

A special exhibit will be on loan to the New York Metropolitan Museum at their Cloisters branch (in Fort Tryon Park) from the Musée de Cluny in Paris. The exhibit opened a couple of days ago and will continue through January 12, 2020.



Posted with permission (publicity release) from the Met Museum website:

Exhibition Overview

A cache of jeweled rings, brooches, and coins—the precious possessions of a Jewish family of medieval Alsace—was hidden in the fourteenth century in the wall of a house in Colmar, France. Discovered in 1863 and on view in an exhibition at The Met Cloisters, the Colmar Treasure revives the memory of a once-thriving Jewish community that was scapegoated and put to death when the Plague struck the region with devastating ferocity in 1348–49.

A generous loan of the Musée de Cluny, Paris, the Colmar Treasure is displayed alongside select works from The Met Cloisters and little-known Judaica from collections in the United States and France. Although the objects on view are small in scale and relatively few in number, the ensemble overturns conventional notions of medieval Europe as a monolithic Christian society. The exhibition points to both legacy and loss, underscoring the prominence of the Jewish minority community in the tumultuous fourteenth century and the perils it faced.

Not only does this exhibit offer us the opportunity to gaze upon medieval Jewish treasures, it gives both Jews and Gentiles pause to reflect on the wrongs visited on the Jewish people. Through education and a rejection of the bigotry of the past, we can possibly achieve a brighter future.

The Met Cloisters

Hours

Open Seven Days a Week
March – October: 10:00 am – 5:15 pm*
November – February: 10:00 am – 4:45 pm*
Closed Thanksgiving Day, December 25, and January 1.
*Galleries are cleared fifteen minutes before closing.

Address

99 Margaret Corbin Drive
Fort Tryon Park
New York, NY 10040

[Mayvenne]

Very interesting.

[Rachel NewYork]

I'm going on Friday, and plan to get back home before Shabbat. I'll post about it on Sunday.

[Rachel NewYork]

As promised, here are a couple pics I took at the Colmar Treasure Exhibit on Friday afternoon.


14th century jeweled brooch of gilded silver, sapphires, rubies, garnet (center jewel), and pearls.


A page from a 14th century machzor (מחזור‎, special holiday prayer book), showing an illuminated rendering of the prayer Shabbat Shekalim (שבת שקלים, "Shabbat of Shekels"), the first of four special Shabbats before Passover.

This special exhibit is small and located in the lower level of the Cloisters. It didn't take me very long to view the entire Colmar exhibit. I've been to the Cloisters before and unless you've never been to the Cloisters and are also interested in viewing the other, year-round exhibits at the Cloisters, you may find that you have more than enough time on your hands after getting all the way uptown to see the Colmar Treasure. Nevertheless, I felt it was worth the trip. If you do go, I highly recommend also purchasing the book The Colmar Treasury: A Medieval Jewish Legacy, which you can get in the Cloisters gift shop. The book not only provides detailed information on each item exhibited, but also contains historical background information on the heartbreaking and horrific fate of Colmar's Jews.

[1+1=5]

Oh, I'll bet that was a robust and priceless visit! Thank you for posting the pictures, too.