I do love eccentric women. There’s something about the way they just do their own thing and don’t give a toss what anyone thinks of them, that I find hugely admirable. And Isabella Stewart Gardner of Boston definitely fits into that category.
Isabella was a wealthy patron of the arts, having inherited nearly two million dollars from her father in 1890. She and her husband spent much time travelling in Europe, acquiring works of art for her collection. To give you some idea of the sort of thing she was buying, one of her earliest purchases was a Vermeer, The Concert. She then went on to add Titians, Botticellis, Rembrandts, Degas, Whistlers etc etc, to her collection. John Singer Sargent was a friend, so she bought a few of his, and then got him to paint her too … a full length portrait in evening dress.
After a while Isabella realised that her house wasn’t big enough to display all her purchases and so she decided to build an Italian palazzo – in Boston – as a permanent home for her works of art.
Isabella was very definite about where everything had to be placed in her museum, and once a piece of art was in position, it was never to be moved. She would go around and check regularly that everything was in its proper place, and when she became too infirm to walk around the museum she bought a sedan chair and had the staff carry her around in it for her inspections. Her will stipulated that nothing must be moved from its original position, so we are still able to enjoy her collection in just the way that she wanted us to.
The only hiccup in her plans was when thieves broke in and stole thirteen paintings – including two Rembrandts and her beloved Vermeer. But true to her wishes, nothing has been moved, and the empty frames where those masterpieces used to live are still on the walls.
I was listening to the audio guide as I walked around the museum, and as I went into the Renaissance room the guide said, ‘Look to your left and you can see a bust of Bindo Altoviti, the Pope Spanker.’
Pope Spanker, I thought – how interesting! Renaissance Popes were obviously much less inhibited than our 21st Century pontiffs. I moved forward to read the information on the wall and learn more about this unusual job title, and was disappointed to learn that Bindo was actually the Pope’s Banker.
To cope with my disappointment I went out and tried a couple of Boston specialities – lobster roll and a passionfruit meringue cake that looks just like the Massachusetts State House. They were both delicious … but not as delicious as the discovery of an official Pope Spanker would have been.
