Munsey's Magazine, March 1906

# Munsey's Magazine, March 1906: "The Treasures of Fenway Court"

Anne O'Hagan's illustrated article describes Isabella Stewart Gardner's newly completed Venetian-style palace on Boston's Fenway. The piece documents the museum's art acquisitions, architecture, and construction history. Gardner paid import duties on her collection, ensuring public access rights while retaining private ownership. The article details the building's distinctive features: its plain brick exterior contrasting with an opulent interior organized around a central Venetian courtyard with fountains, sculptures, and marble elements. It includes accounts of Gardner's hands-on involvement in construction, her commissioning of specialized tile production, and her patronage of contemporary artists. The courtyard displays Roman and Italian artifacts including a sarcophagus representing "The Triumph of Bacchus." Interior rooms contain works by Botticelli, Rembrandt, Titian, Raphael, and modern painters including Sargent and Whistler. The article concludes by introducing the Chinese room and its contents, including Queen Marie Antoinette's porcelain.