This essay explores two canonical installations at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Cloisters and African galleries in the Rockefeller wing. After providing a brief history of the formation of these collections and their display strategies, I analyze the effect of exhibition design for a visitor's judgments and impressions of the works of art. I argue that museum educators should incorporate display strategies into the narratives we create in these spaces, and I share approaches that I use in my lectures and tours.