Window with Flamboyant Tracery

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The elegant design and fine stone of these windows bear witness to the importance of the monastery from which they come; Sens was one of the first Dominican foundations in France, and one of the most powerful. In 1420, however, it was sacked by the English. A year later, the du chess of Burgundy offered funds for its repair, and local citizens followed suit. By 1475, Dominicans from all over France were able to convene for meetings at Sens, suggesting that the refectory, from which these windows come, must have been completed by that date. One window in the refectory was fitted with stained glass in 1503. The monastery fell into disrepair in the eighteenth century, and its buildings were offered for sale beginning in 1791. Six windows from the refectory remained in place until the 1920s, when they were purchased by the American banker George Blumenthal for his home at Auteuil in Paris. As president of the Metropolitan Museum, he donated these four to The Cloisters in 1935.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.

Metropolitan Museum of Art