Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

About this book

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is world renowned for a superb collection of over 10,000 objects that range from ancient Chinese bronzes to Renaissance tapestries, from paintings by Raphael and Rubens to those of Whistler and Matisse. This guidebook charts new pathways through the beloved institution and tells the story its founder, a trail-blazing American who was among the most prominent patrons of her day. Isabella Stewart Gardner built a Venetian-inspired palazzo in Boston to house her exquisite and thought-provoking arrangement of art objects from diverse cultures and periods of history to share with the world. she hosted luminaries in the worlds of music, dance, and literature and supported such famed artists as Henry James and John Singer Sargent. Exploring the museum room by room, the authors of this book look at masterpieces by Botticelli, Rembrandt, Titian, and others, as well as hidden treasures, including often overlooked decorative arts, collected letters, and photographs. Rather than positioning the museum simply as a historical gem, they present it as a site for forging connections between past and present and reinforcing the founder's legacy of sustaining contemporary art, music, and education with initiatives supported by space in the New Wing designed by Renzo Piano and constructed in 2012. Featuring spectacular photography, the book captures this unique museum, helping us consider anew what the museum meant in Gardner's time and what it means in ours.