Book excerpt: This catalogue was published in 1996 to accompany an innovative exhibition, Medieval Art in America: Patterns of Collecting, 1800-1940, organized by the Frick Art Museum and the Palmer Museum of Art. With works of art borrowed from numerous prominent institutions--including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago--the exhibition focused not on the objects themselves but rather on the motivations and methods that led collectors to bring medieval art to America. The catalogue for the 1996 exhibition, now newly available to the public, enables readers to revisit the pioneering display of objects, ranging from ivory statues to stained glass. With an illustrated catalogue of the 75 objects in the show and essays on well-known collectors and collections of medieval art, this volume is an indispensable reference for the study of both American collecting and medieval art.