Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Gardner visited and participated in
the museum construction daily; in
1901 she moved into the private fourth-
floor living quarters and devoted her-
self to personally arranging works of
art in the historic galleries.
Isabella filled her museum with visual
and performing artists, organizing
concerts, lectures and exhibitions and
encouraging artists to make them-
selves at home. John Singer Sargent
painted in the Gothic Room, Ruth St.
Denis danced her famous piece The
Cobra in the Cloisters, and Australian
opera star Nellie Melba performed
from the balcony of the Dutch Room.
Isabella suffered a stroke in 1919 but
continued to receive guests for the
next five years. She died in 1924, leav-
ing a museum “for the education and
enjoyment of the public forever.” She
provided an endowment to operate
the museum, stipulating in her will
that nothing in the galleries should be
changed, and no items be acquired or
sold in the collection.
This page, Gothic Room, and next page, Veronese Room. Photos by Sean Dungan.
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