Portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner

This is an oil on canvas painting of Isabella Stewart Gardner, painted by John Singer Sargennt. 

This portrait of Isabella Stewart Garnder stands prominently in the Gothic Room of the musuem. John Singer Sargent was commissioned for $3,000 to do the painting in 1888. Sargent was a close friend of the Gardner family, and many of his works hang throughout the musuem. Gardner herself allegedly rejected eight different renderings of her face until she was satisfied with how it looked.

The Gothic Room that it's in was private until Gardner's death, which meant that the portrait was not on display for the public until after 1924. Now, you can see the portrait amongst stained glass, gothic altar pieces, and artwork laden with Catholic imagery. The painting stands at a corner in the room with a background of ancient and holy-looking tapestries on the wall. The stained glass windows shed light onto the piece, naturally drawing any musuem goer's eye to the corner. The gold frame that protects the canvas is fraught the same divine reverence as the rest of the religious artwork in the room. 

The work was jokingly called "Woman: an Enigma", which is indicative of the eccentricity and mystery that shrouded Gardner's public image. 

Gardner’s museum, and her inclusion of portraits of herself like these, show the careful work of cultivation that went into creating and preserving the public image by which she wanted to be remembered. Her work of cultivation is actually profound, in the grand sense of self-preservation. With this painting, Gardner’s own anxiety about immortality shines through, in a way that is deeply and relatablely human.