Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: A Guide

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and its magnificent collection are enlivened through fresh insights and new photography in this updated guide

This updated guide to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum charts new pathways through the beloved institution's superb collection. Gardner, a trail-blazing American who was among the most prominent patrons of her day, built a Venetian-inspired palazzo in Boston to share her exquisite and thought-provoking art objects from diverse cultures and eras. She hosted luminaries in the worlds of music, dance, and literature, and supported such famed artists as Henry James and John Singer Sargent. The authors look at masterpieces by Botticelli, Rembrandt, Titian, and others, as well as hidden treasures, including decorative arts, correspondence, 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. Featuring all-new photography, the book captures the uniqueness of this museum, helping us consider anew what the museum meant in Gardner's time and what it means in ours.

Christina M. Nielsen is William and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.