Pieces of Tennis History at the Gardner Museum
One of the earliest depictions of tennis is in a painting of a biblical scene in the Veronese Room. Read on to learn more about it and Isabella’s fondness for the racquet sport.
Inside the Collection Blog
The Gardner's home for stories about its collection (including the plants!), Isabella and her circle, and how the Museum inspires artists today.
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Dutch Exotica, Rembrandt’s Scarf, and the Glint of Gold
How did Rembrandt and other painters use textiles to set the scene for the far-away long ago “East”?
Uncovering the Portrait of a Prince Who Never Ruled
In the Dutch Room there is a small painting hiding in plain sight depicting a doomed prince of France by an understudied artist.
Before Fenway Court: Mary Jane Morgan and the Building—and Splitting—of a Collection
Years before Isabella opened her museum, another Gilded Age collector was building something strikingly similar.
Loaning Paintings: Paul César Helleu and the 1893 World’s Fair
Meet Paul César Helleu, the French Impressionist painter whose work captured Isabella's early attention—and took center stage at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.
Show Yourself to Be A Mother / Monstra Te Esse Matrem
What does it mean to “show yourself to be a mother”? Artist-in-Residence Jamie Diamond explores the maternal heart of the Gardner—and how Isabella and the Virgin Mary shaped her latest work.
Isabella Stewart Gardner and Boston Photographer T. E. Marr—Their Unique Arrangement
Photographically documenting the Museum would be a monumental undertaking. When Isabella Stewart Gardner recognized the necessity she chose Thomas Marr for the task.
Seeing in a New Light – Fragment of an Oil Lamp
A 700-year-old lamp fragment gets a high-tech makeover in our Conservation Lab. Read how 'Alien Clay' and a bit of history helped us restore its original glow.