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PHILLY LOVE NOTES: Crazy about the Cloisters @ PMA
"Experiencing that history ... opened me up to the unexplainable joys great cultural experiences can impart."
PHILLY LOVE NOTES: Crazy about the Cloisters @ PMA
Every two weeks, Critical Mass will feature one Philly love note in its collaboration with blogger Emma Fried-Cassorla of phillylovenotes.com.
LOVE NOTE RECIPIENT: The Cloisters at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
I AM: Kristina Jenkins, the editor of Where Philadelphia magazine. I’m a tenacious cheerleader for all things Philly-centric and devoted to providing my visitor-readers with a uniquely local experience. Personally, I am known for being a fan of the finer things in life — particularly food, drink, art and fashion.
MY LOVE NOTE:
I don’t remember the first time I visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but my mother tells me I was a 
wee thing of just three or four. My second visit to the great bastion of art, at age 14 or so, was much more memorable, however, and the feeling of youth is wrapped up in why I love those hallowed halls, specifically the medieval “Cloister with Elements from the Abbey of Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines.”
I was on a school field trip, surrounded by friends and teachers, but somehow I ended up wandering into the Cloister alone. Experiencing that history and ethereal atmosphere all by myself altered my little existence somehow, and opened me up to the unexplainable joys great cultural experiences can impart.
The exhibit itself is fairly simple — there are no sweeping landscapes, lifelike Madonnas or jarring canvases — just ancient marble transported from southwestern France and reconstructed here in Philly. But with the water making music from the fountain in the center of the room, the ceiling painted not in frescoes but to resemble the sky, the exhibit transports. I love the space not only for the gorgeous ancient architecture but for the room's tranquil otherworldly atmosphere.
It might be ironic that one of my most beloved spots in Philadelphia takes me beyond the city, but perhaps it’s that transformative spirit that makes that room so special. No matter how many times I visit the Museum — which I’m fortunate to say is fairly often thanks to my line of work — I’m able to visit the Cloisters, where the feeling of awe returns, undiluted.
Have a favorite spot you'd like to write a love note to? Send it to the author at phillylovenotes@gmail.com.
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