This is an opportunity to see some amazing works of art in an atypical beautiful museum setting.

In 1898 Isabella Stewart Gardner purchased a plot of land in the Fenway on which to build a Museum to house her growing art collection. She worked closely with the architect and builders to achieve the effect she sought for the presence of the space. Gardner disliked the cold, mausoleum-like spaces of most American museums of the period. She designed Fenway Court to have a unique warm feel, almost a home like setting, and she did in fact live in the space on the 4th floor for many years.  The museum is built around a central courtyard filled with flowers. Light enters the galleries from the courtyard and from exterior windows, creating an atmospheric setting for works of art.

“Love of art, not knowledge about the history of art, was her aim. Her friends noted that the entire museum was a work of art in itself. Individual objects became part of a rich, complex and intensely personal setting.” (gardnermuseum.org)

Isabella Stewart Gardner began collecting Dutch and Italian pictures in the 1890s. Her collection includes Botticelli’s Lucretia, Titian’s Europa, Vermeer’s The Concert and Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait.

The museum was the victim of the largest art heist in world history. In 1990 two men dressed as Boston police officers conned their way into the museum and stole a Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, and Manet, now valued at $500 million. Here is a recent article from the Boson Globe about the theft >

This is one of my favorite museums in the city. Highly Recommended!