Visit Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum doesn't really qualify as Boston's best-kept secret. The Gardner Museum is probably the second most famous art repository in Boston, maybe in all of Massachusetts. Until recently, though, the combination of a house/museum designed and the art accumulated by Isabella Stewart Gardner herself was unknown to me. I'd heard the name but never saw the place. Upon entering it the first time, no exaggeration, I couldn't help but say 'Wow.' I said it again about five times inside an hour, almost involuntarily. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is really something worth seeing.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was opened in 1903 by its namesake and founder. Mrs. Gardner, a New York native who married a prominent Bostonian, collected paintings from around the world, plus rare books, tapestries, sculpture and various other artifacts. She designed her house to be something like a museum, except more intimate, so it might be a great place to use as an exhibition place to be enjoyed by the public.

The Gardner Museum is located on The Fenway at 280. It's easily accessible by public transportation off the green line at the Museum of Fine Arts stop- just down the street from it. You will pass both the MFA School and Wentworth Institute of Technology as you get there. Don't look for a big sign, because there isn't one. I almost missed it, but was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't a long walk from the T at all

I had such a strong reaction of awe when I first walked into the Gardner Museum that I hate to give away what you'll see there. It's almost like a movie or something: you don't want to give away the twists. I'll just say that Gardner loved Venice, Italy, and the building she had constructed for her art is designed in the palazzo style. If that word calls to mind 'palace' to you, it wouldn't be far off from what this museum is like inside- it's something like a palace or mansion right in the middle of Boston. (It made me wonder, after I left, how many other huge homes are hidden around the city? How many have been remodeled and made into apartments?)

The museum's interior, in any case, is worth the trip. It varies from dark, almost medieval rooms to a beautiful, sunlit garden atrium. There's a lot of space, too- you can spend about an hour wandering around the rooms. If you've ever toured the Newport Mansions, you won't see the same opulence here, or the same square-footage, but visiting the museum does feel like visiting an historic home as well as an art collection.

The collection itself may not be to all tastes- it's very heavy on renaissance art - many Madonnas with Child and other religious iconography, or at least it seemed so to my laywoman's eye. However, even people who don't like this kind of art can find Asian art displays, autographed letters from early 20th century presidents, Napoleonic memorabilia, and ancient Grecian statuary, too. And if you're going to see 15th century religious art, isn't it a lot cooler to see an actual Botticelli or Raphael than to not? The history of some of these pieces has to be amazing, and it's very cool to walk off The Fenway and see something a master painter created over five hundred years ago.

There's also an air of mystery about the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a mystery involving stolen art work taken back in 1990 and never found. A Rembrandt and a Vermeer were stolen back then, and to this day, their places remain empty on the walls. This may be because Gardner wanted things to remain where she put them after her death (it was actually a stipulation in her will) I'm not sure. You may want to buy a guide book to tour the Museum, by the way, as a lot of the works aren't labeled. (Many are.) Or, you can take advantage of the public tour offered by the museum with the price of admission.

Along with the museum exhibits, the Gardner also has educational programs for students and adults and various special programs and concerts. Adult admission to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is $12, with discounts for students and seniors. Some local college students get free admission. There are also many other discounts with Museum Membership, AAA membership, and then for weird things, like if you wear Red Sox memorabilia, you get a discount, and get this: if your name is Isabella, you get free lifetme admission. The Gardner Museum is open 11-5PM, and closed on Mondays.