Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

About

Stopping on a quiet street in Boston, one seems to walk quietly toward the entrance amid the still atmosphere surrounding Red Brick Square. The low ceiling and modest windows let natural light fall gently over the seating area. The outer walls blend with the slowly encircling garden, and an exotic fragrance occasionally drifts in on the wind. Together with that fragrance, what unfolds before the eyes is the wall where Titian's The Rape of Europa and Rembrandt's Self-Portrait at Age 23 stand. The gaze flowing between the paintings makes one feel a space where the refinement of ancient Italy and medieval Europe reside together.