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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Review

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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Address: 280 The Fenway, The Fenway, Boston, MA, 02115 | Map It
Phone: 617/566-1401; 617/566-1088 cafe
www.gardnermuseum.org

Category: Museums/Galleries
Location: The Fenway and Kenmore Square

Write a review | Avg. member rating: 4.8/5

Fodor's Review:

A spirited young society woman, Isabella Stewart had come in 1860 from New York—where ladies were more commonly seen and heard than in Boston—to marry John Lowell Gardner, one of Boston's leading citizens. Through her flamboyance and energetic acquisition of art, "Mrs. Jack" promptly set about becoming the most un-Bostonian of the Proper Bostonians. When it came time finally to settle down with the old master paintings and Medici treasures she and her husband had acquired in Europe—with her money (she was heir to the Stewart mining fortune)—she decided to build the Venetian palazzo of her dreams in an isolated corner of Boston's newest neighborhood. She built her palace to center on a spacious inner courtyard. On New Year's Day 1903, she threw open the entrance to Fenway Court (to use the museum's original name)—then as now, a monument to one woman's individuality and taste. Today, it's probably America's most idiosyncratic treasure house.

In a city where expensive simplicity was the norm, Gardner's palazzo was amazing: a trove of paintings—including such masterpieces as Titian's Europa, Giotto's Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Piero della Francesca's Hercules, and John Singer Sargent's El Jaleo—overflows rooms bought outright from great European houses. Spanish leather panels, Renaissance hooded fireplaces, and Gothic tapestries accent salons; eight balconies adorn the majestic Venetian courtyard. There's a Raphael Room, a Spanish Cloister, a Gothic Room, a Chinese Loggia, and a magnificent Tapestry Room for concerts, where Gardner entertained Henry James and Edith Wharton. Throughout the two decades of her residence, Mrs. Jack continued to build her collection under the tutelage of the young Bernard Berenson, who became one of the most respected art connoisseurs and critics of the 20th century.

At one time Gardner lived on the fourth floor of Fenway Court. When she died, the terms of her will stipulated that the building remain exactly as she left it—paintings, furniture, everything, down to the smallest object in a hall cabinet. Mrs. Jack never believed in insurance, putting her faith in her mansion's entry portal, which carries Renaissance-period figures of both St. George and St. Florian, the patron saints protecting believers from theft and fire. Today, with more than 2,500 works in the collection and rates dramatically lower because of increasing recoveries of stolen art, the Gardner indeed does carry insurance. An intimate restaurant overlooks the garden, and in spring and summer tables and chairs spill outside. To fully conjure up the spirit of days past, try to attend one of the concerts still held from September to May (with a break for the holidays) in the Tapestry Room. A first-floor gallery has revolving exhibits of historic and contemporary art. If you've visited the MFA in the past two days, there's a $2 discount to the admission fee. Also note that a charming quirk of the museum's admission policy waives entrance fees to anyone named Isabella, forever.

Cost: $12
Open: Museum Tues.-Sun. 11-5, open some holidays; café Tues.-Fri. 11:30-4, weekends 11-4. Weekend concerts at 1:30
Metro: Museum

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Member Reviews and Ratings

Reviewed by yk from Boston on 11/6/09
The entrance and admission desk are both unremarkable, but once you step inside this museum, you'll think otherwise. The interior is modelled after a Venetian Palazzo, and the courtyard is particularly charming. The museum is a treasure trove of Old Masters paintings. I am sad about the theft that took place in 1990 and hope the artwork will one day be found and returned.

The museum cafe, while small, serves simple yet delicious lunch.