Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

A Palace Stopped in Time

By Axel Fay

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a commemoration to what it meant to be a high-class traveller in the late 1800’s. Isabella Stewart Gardner was a New Yorker who came to Boston due to her marriage. Soon after the death of her son Jackie at the age of two, she began to travel the world with her husband Jack, her favorite location being Venice, Italy. Her travels were what led her to the creation of the Gardner museum. This museum is a Boston mansion, which is meshed with all different parts of the world, along with all the furnishings collected over her life. With this collection she created a museum, which within her lifetime was open to the public. Now, years after her death, we are still left with her untouched palace, to observe how one aspired to live in her time.

This mansion was pieced together with different pieces from around the world. Within many of the walls and windows are incased pieces of walls from Italian Castles, and wrought iron bars. It has a great many rooms, each of which are themed. One such room is the Gothic room, which contains dark wood paneling, Christian figures, stained glass windows, and even stone arcs facing out to the courtyard. The courtyard is a rarity to find in the United States, being of a very European style. The Courtyard is a magnificent collection of marble statues amongst different plant life. It leaves a place for spring year round in such a cold state as Massachusetts, and also includes tropical trees within it. The collection of art is also placed according to the theme of the rooms, and some rooms are specifically themed according to the paintings within. Her collection varies throughout a number of eras, and styles, including from all different religions. The entire museum as a whole is a prized collection, even within its very walls. 

Although the collection is extensive, and the mansion is laid out beautifully, it lacks, and will forever lack, some organization. The walls, and some of the furnishings and stonework often looked meshed together rather than having a smooth transition. One such example is of the grand fireplace in the Tapestry Room, which is beautifully carved, but is missing pieces; it is instead meshed together in different parts that do not exactly fit. This seems to be a recurring theme within the Gardner Museum, and although a tiny detail, pops up often, and not only in stonework. This theme seems to also correspond to the rooms, which seem to have little to no transition between them. There are also some wall hangings that do not always fit the theme, but it is often theorized that Gardner had placed them there purposefully to stand out. However, there are also areas that work wonderfully, and seem specifically made for the location, one example is a Roman coffered ceiling, but is put in so nicely, even though it does not fit the exact dimensions of the room, that it looks as if it was built for that room. Sometimes, this piecing together was done very magnificently, while other times it was less so.  

The Gardner Museum did not have the nicest of exteriors before, but now looks like a masterpiece next to the modern eyesore next door. The museum has recently had an added wing in 2012, which contrasts tremendously with the historic museum. However, before going, I had worse expectations of the glass castle, which now I realize is at least separated by a 50-foot glass tube. Gardner’s will was not written well enough apparently. What is the need to add such a monster? At the very least there could have been added something to resemble, at least, the palace next door instead of adding something that stands out like a sore thumb. It is understandable that they needed space for a music hall that was not the tapestry room, as to not destroy the furniture, but at the very least there could have been the slightest effort to honor Gardner, instead of making her squirm in her grave. Was there really a need to add a gift shop and restaurant? If they wanted to build more modern exhibitions, it would have been best to make another museum and preserve the monument of the Gardner Museum. Ultimately, the museum is not only about visual art, her entire building is the most important piece to the Gardner, and is why it was inappropriate to have rashly built that thing outside.

            The Gardner Museum is ultimately a wonderful place to have visited, but it is sad to see it be so hurt by this modernization of it. It is apparent that they do not have much respect for Gardner herself.