Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1987–1988

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Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1987–1988

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The Metropolitan’s holdings, so astonishingly rich, are a manifestation of the enormous generosity of generations of collectors, who either gave or bequeathed extraordinary works of art to the Museum. This year we must thank those large-spirited donors who continued this great tradition in the face of a tax policy that has created a climate increasingly punitive to acts of public munificence. Despite their support, however, a larger proportion than usual of our recent acquisitions has been purchased rather than donated.

Thanks to The Cloisters Fund, the Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters has yet again been able to acquire works of a remarkably high level of quality. Its acquisitions this year reflect the scope of the collection—from Early Christian through Migration to Late Gothic art. Three objects exhibited in the new Treasury at The Cloisters occupy pride of place: a sumptuous Ottoman brooch of the tenth century, whose gold architectonic setting supports a Constantinian sapphire intaglio; a fourteenth-century Sienese chalice
that exemplifies the fine translucent enameling and precise metalwork of that Tuscan city; and a slightly later Catalonian chalice, a rare example of fourteenth-century altar plate.

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Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1987–1988

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