III. Courtyard (Slide 8) A. The heart of the museum

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1 I. Gardner is a unique museum (Slides 1 and 2) A. Compare to MFA, (last year s field trip) B. What makes Gardner unique? 1. Building was built to house the art collection of one couple (Isabella and her husband) 2. It was also their home 3. Mrs. Gardner had a very strict rule after her death, the people who ran the museum could not add to the collection or sell off anything, and nothing should be changed or moved around. II. Fenway Court (Slide 3) The building, called Fenway Court, took two years to complete. (Slide 4 of building, Slide 5 and 6) Mrs. Gardner was involved in every detail. In fact, she even got up on a ladder and one point (Slide 7 Ms Gardner on ladder) to show the workmen how she wanted the plaster of the courtyard walls to look. She opened the collection to the public on a limited schedule starting in February 1903 (over 100 years ago), but continued to live in private rooms on the fourth floor that are now museum offices. She would throw big parties occasionally, hold concerts, and entertain small groups of friends like famous authors, artists, and musicians. III. Courtyard (Slide 8) A. The heart of the museum

2 B. Designed to look like a palace in Venice (Slide 9) 1. Stonework, columns, etc. bought in Venice and incorporated into the design of the building (Slide 10 & 11) 2. In Venice, courtyards are open to the sky, but in colder climate of Boston, it is covered with skylight 3. The courtyard is always in bloom with flowering plants and shrubs. These are changed every season, and the museum has greenhouses and a full-time gardening staff to keep it looking beautiful. When you go, there will probably be a display of tropical plants. Later in the spring, they plant nasturtiums in window boxes and the vines trail down the side of the courtyard. 4. Mosaic of Medusa in center of courtyard (Slides 12, 13 & 14 each zooming in more on the Medusa). a. Roman, 2000 years old b. can be seen from all the windows and balconies above. 5. Main entrance to the courtyard has 2 stylobates (columns supported by stone sculptures). (Slide 15) a. One shows a lion trampling a man and the man driving a dagger into the lion s side

3 b. Notice the Marble columns extremely expensive hand carved. 6. Also in the courtyard and cloister are several Marble sculptures. (Slide 16) Marble is a beautiful stone to work with given the natural swirls in it design. IV. Before looking at individual works of arts let us take a quick look at the many, many rooms in the house/museum (Slide 17). Containing art from all over the world! V. El Jaleo (Slide 18) first painting you ll see when you enter the museum a. Painted in 1882 by John Singer Sargent i. Famous painter born of American parents but spent much of his life living and working in Europe. Good friend of Mrs. Gardner and painted her several times. b. El Jaleo shows a flamenco dance performance in a Spanish tavern at night; word jaleo means a ruckus, or party with music and dance and food and drink and everyone having a good time. You can almost hear the music and the stomping of the dancer s heels on the tavern floor as you look at the painting. c. The room where it hangs is called the Spanish Cloister, and it was redesigned by Mrs. Gardner in 1914 specifically to house this painting even though she didn t own it yet! Owned by Mr. Gardner s cousin, but Mrs. Gardner didn t think

4 it was being displayed properly in his home. After she showed the cousin her plans, he gave the painting to her and she had it installed at Fenway Court. 1. What makes the display special? She installed a stone archway she bought in Spain in front of the painting so that it looked like an arch above a stage. Also had the painting lit from below, as a stage would be. VI. Second Floor Rooms A. Hercules by Piero della (Slide 19) Francesca in Early Italian Room s, fresco. Originally part of the artist s house in Italy. Descendant wanted to cut a doorway into that wall and so cut away Hercules feet. Took ISG 6 years to arrange for its purchase. A Hurculean effort in itself! Italian gov t. didn t want to give it up. In the end, she paid $150,000 in taxes to the Italian gov t., much more than she paid for the fresco itself B. Raphael Room 1. Named after a very famous Italian painter from the 1500s 2. Portrait by Raphael of Count Tommaso Inghirami. (Slide 20)

5 b. Inghirami was an important member of the Catholic Church in Rome at the time. He held very important jobs and was extremely intelligent, witty and well-liked. However, he wasn t very nice to look at (very overweight, medical problem with his eye muscles). Good example of how an artist shows his creativity, not just in how he puts the paint on the canvas, but in how he chooses to depict his subject. How did Raphael make Inghirami look more appealing? Had him turn a bit sideways, focused on the hands, look up to the heavens. C. Short Gallery 1. Wonderful portrait of Mrs. Gardner by Anders Zorn, Swedish artist. (Slide 21) He and his wife spent a summer and fall in Venice with the Gardners in Listening to a concert in the palazzo where they were staying, Mrs. Gardner went out on the balcony to watch a fireworks display over the Grand Canal. Came back into the room and said, Come out all of you, this is too beautiful to miss. Shows her spirit and love of life. She really liked to have fun. Doesn t her dress look like a

6 flame against the dark background? D. Tapestry Room 1. At present, the Tapestry room is being restored to its historic appearance. (Slide 22) 2. Previously used for concerts (Slide 23), (Sunday Concert Series, etc.) the room will reopened in January Walls are hung with a series of ten enormous tapestries, which are pictures or designs woven with different colored threads VII. Third Floor Rooms A. Titian Room 1. Perhaps the most important painting in all of Boston Europa by Titian, (Slide 24) the greatest artist ever to come from Venice, the city Mrs. Gardner loved so much. Painted in 1561, it shows a scene from mythology. The powerful god Zeus was in love with a princess named Europa. He wanted to kidnap her and make her his wife, so he disguised himself as a beautiful, white bull. She and her handmaidens made a big fuss over him when he showed up, and treated him like a pet. He was so gentle that Europa climbed on his back.

7 Then Zeus seized his chance, springing away with Europa over the sea, with the handmaidens screaming and Europa hanging onto his horns for dear life. They crossed the Mediterranean Sea and settled in Greece, and the continent they traveled over was named Europe after her. 2. Chapel French Stained Glass from the 13 th century (Slide 25). i. It was made for Soissons cathedral, the earliest of the great High Gothic cathedrals, located some sixty miles northeast of Paris. The window at the Gardner Museum is now about 40 percent of its original height; the remainder of the window was bought by the Louvre, Paris, at the same time Mrs. Gardner acquired her pieces ii. The window narrates the story of Nicasius, archbishop of Reims, and his sister Eutropia, who were martyred by the Vandals in 403. The two saints had great local significance in Soissons.

8 B. In this chapel Mass is said for Ms. Gardner every year on April 14 her birthday! VIII. Let s go back to the second floor for a moment because I would like to discuss something that happened in more recent history. Now - - we can discuss this here, because it is important to be informed about historical events. However - - when at the museum, PLEASE do not bring this next topic up as it is a sad subject to those who operate and love the museum. IX. The Heist FBI Top 10 Art Crimes (Slide 26)! A. March 18, 1990 very early in the morning - - while the museum was closed - -the Gardner Museum was robbed by 2 unknown males dressed in police uniforms. They gained entry to the locked museum by telling museum security guards - - they were responding to a call of disturbance from within the museum. (Slide 27) B. The 2 men gained entry and abducted the security personnel handcuffing them in the museum s basement. C. Between the hours of 1:24 and 2:45am the robbers seized 13 works of art valued at $300million. D. They also seized the video surveillance film before leaving the museum.

9 E. The Dutch Room the thieves headed up the main staircase and took 6 paintings. You will see empty frames on your visit (remember Ms. Gardners will - - stating that nothing can be changed in the museum.). F. A Vemeer painting titled The Concert dated 1664 (Slide 28) - depicted the importance of musical gatherings in the 17 th century Dutch life. This painting is considered the most valuable painting classified as stolen. G. A 373 year old Rembrandt painting was ripped from its frame and rolled into a scroll. (Slide 29) Sadly, this was Rembrandt s only sea-scape titled Storm on the Sea of Galilee. H. The Short Gallery which is just a small connecting corridor linking several rooms contained a great deal of art from. The thieves took at least 6 works of art including several sketches by French Impressionist Degas. I. To this day the crime is unsolved and FBI detectives still devote time to solving this mystery. It is one of the most tantalizing heist mysteries in the world.

10 J. A $5million no-questions-asked reward. K. (Slide 30) - I know that the story of the robbery is really exciting, but please do not ask your guide about it! Instead enjoy the art!