I got to hang out with my California friend Noemi and her husband Jeff who came to visit relatives in the Boston area. Noemi wanted to go to the Gardner. I always love to go there. It's an exact replica of a 15th century Venetian palace with a huge, sky-lighted courtyard, just like Roman villas (without the skylight). .
She was a character. She was a New Yorker and not well received in
stuffy Boston circles. But she became an avid art collector, much of
which is on display, with the help of her Harvard Art Historian friend Bernard
Berenson. She built it with the idea of leaving it to the public.
Taking selfies at the Venetian Palazzo. Very romantic....Before I went to California I used to go to the Gardner all the time. Classical music concerts in the Music Room, drawings by Michaelangelo and Rembrandt. I especially liked the Dutch room, several Rembrandt paintings and my most favorite, The Concert by Vermeer. It was kept in a glass case with a velvet cover over it to protect it from the light, but you were allowed to lift up the velvet cloth to look at it. Unfortunately the Gardner was robbed in 1990! Three paintings are missing from the Dutch room including two Rembrandts and the Vermeer. What a loss ! Vermeer did not paint many pictures in his lifetime and Isabella had one of them. I greatly admire her as an art Patron. She was friends with John Singer Sargent also.
Courtyard objects, small pool with tile floor, Egyptian statue, Roman mosaic floor.
Rumor has it that Jackie Kennedy always visited the Gardner when she was in Boston and that it was her favorite museum. It is one of the best places to go in the Winter where you can see beautiful plants, lots of green and beautiful light because of the huge skylight.
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