Once again it is a millionaire, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. whom we have to thank for this museum, a strange concoction of medieval ruins brought from France, Italy and Spain and reassembled as a fortified monastery. Many Europeans are shocked to see their cloisters reconstructed on the banks of the Hudson.
There are some lovely things here including the chapel of San Martin de Fuentiduena from Segovia; the Roman esque cloister of St. Michel-de-Cuxa from the Pyrenees; the cathedral treasury; the Unicorn and Burgos tapestries; and the famous Merode triptych. In the pretty garden, filled with medicinal herbs used in the Middle Ages, concerts are presented in summertime.
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street. Open from 10 a.m. to 4.45 p. m.; Wednesdays and Fridays until 9 p.m. Voluntary donations.
