The Museum's renowned period rooms and architectural settings recreate environments spanning from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries. From a peaceful Medieval cloister to an opulent French grand salon, from a Chinese scholar's study to an eighteenth-century rural Pennsylvania kitchen, these evocative spaces allow visitors to fully realize what it means to "walk through time."
A few of the Museum's period rooms and architectural settings are highlighted below.
Ceremonial TeahouseThis classic Japanese teahouse, Sunkaraku, is one of the Museum's most popular settings. Its very name reflects the spirit of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. |
Medieval CloisterThis cloister, an arcaded walkway surrounding an open courtyard that existed at the heart of a monastery, is based on that at Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines in southwestern France. |
Reception HallThis reception hall recreates a majestic space where a high-ranking Chinese nobleman, seated on his raised lacquer couch, would receive visitors in the seventeenth century. |
Indian Pillared HallThis magnificent sixteenth-century stone temple hall stands as the only example of South Indian stone architecture to be found in an American museum. |
PortalThis grand Medieval portal originally served as the main entrance to the small Augustinian abbey church of Saint-Laurent in central France. |
