the luxury of spring at the lovely gardner museum

What’s the best place to experience spring? Somewhere with flowers, obviously. And perhaps art. A place that’s intimate, quirky, and joyful. Perhaps the home of someone with exquisite taste and a sharp sense of humor. And it would be nice if there were places to sit and daydream, either alone or with your inamorata. Problem solved. You’ll find all of those elements, and more, at the splendid Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

The Gardner Museum is one of the loveliest places in all of New England – perhaps in all of the United States. Built by Isabella Stewart Gardner, completed in 1903, and initially named Fenway Court, the Italianate mansion was purposely designed “to awaken the imagination and enliven the senses.”

Gardner was known for encouraging music, literature, dance, and creative thinking across artistic disciplines. By design, her art collection includes paintings, furniture, textiles, and objects from different cultures and periods along with well-known European paintings and sculpture.

The centerpiece of the museum is the “Palace Wing.” Gardner’s original house remains intact, and at its center is an enchanting courtyard. Visitors are greeted by a riot of tree ferns, plants, flowers, ancient Greek and Roman statuary, Venetian stonework, tiles and natural light. It’s absolutely magical.

Fragrant plantings, like heliotrope, are intentionally placed near the courtyard perimeter, where people like to sit.

A highlight of the year is the museum’s annual April nasturtium display. The blooms are orange, can be up to 15 feet long, and have been arranged by the horticulturalists on the staff to cascade gracefully from the balconies surrounding the courtyard.

The sculptures themselves are playful and witty if you study them for a bit. The mosaic tiles in the center of the courtyard features a fearsome Medusa – in Greek mythology, looking at her would turn anyone to stone – and so she’s surrounded by stone sculptures.

Nearly all of the sculptures represent powerful women from classical mythology, including Artemis, Persephone, and the Maenads (the male sculptures are only found at the perimeter, sometimes tucked behind a fountain.)

We found a stone bird sculpture facing outward on the second floor, literally enjoying a birds-eye view of the courtyard below.

The courtyard is the show-stopper, and you can view it from three different floors. The nasturtiums are lovely when viewed from the second-story windows.

At the Gardner Museum, you can roam freely, get close to many of the objects, even touch some of them. You can perch in a quiet corner and observe. You can just be. You can sketch. You can read a novel. You can mediate. You could fall in love with someone if you’re not careful. Some spaces on this Earth have good magic in them. This is one of them.

Like all luxuries, the nasturtium display is spectacular and fleeting. You may still have time to catch it this year. If not, make plans now to visit early next April. Come what may, spring will be waiting for you in this dreamy little corner of the world.

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