Hundreds of interlocking panels — black, white and Coca-Cola red all over — made up Josef Albers’s “Manhattan,” a mural in which geometry and meticulous precision met modernist vivacity.

It was undeniably busy, which was appropriate, given its home high above the commuters bustling to and from Grand Central Terminal through 200 Park Avenue , best known as the MetLife Building.

The mural was ingrained in the design of the building. Ingrained in the mural was asbestos.

And thus ended the existence of a great German artist’s ode to New York — until this week, when an exact replica of Albers’s creation was unveiled in the same spot where it last loomed nearly two decades ago. The bright patchwork, a vibrant centerpiece in the lobby, has made its long-awaited return.

“This is what art was for him: something that could affect you, maybe gave a little bit of joy to the lives of those people rushing to their trains or rushing out of the station to their workday,” said Nicholas Fox Weber, the executive director of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation.