Today is the feast day of Epiphany. Isabella Stewart Gardner would have read the liturgy in her Book of Common Prayer as a part of her faith practice. Among her collection, I found an 18th -19th Century Dutch tray, a contemporary (to ISG) American painting, and a panel in an early Renaissance retable as the only depictions of the wise men from the East who, led by the star, came to honor and worship the Holy Family bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The Western Christian Church’s Feast of Epiphany commemorates the journey of the Magi, the first Gentiles to acknowledge the Christ Child. Twelfth Night is a time to celebrate God incarnate, revealed truth, new beginnings, insight, and the spreading of hope to all people.

My epiphany? My illuminating discovery? My hopeful insight? Isabella Stewart Gardner continues to be ever so much more than what is generally known of her. While she was a women ahead of her time, brilliant and luminary, a pioneer of art collecting and appreciation and sponsorship in the Nineteenth Century United States, a social outsider yet leader… she is so much more. A more complete understanding of Isabella Stewart Gardner’s life and palatial legacy, must consider the very complicated and personal aspects of her biography: her maternity, her mental health, her faith, and the griefs she endured. I am working to tell this relatable, timely, and redemptive story.

I have spent the last year and a half on a treasure hunt in the life of Isabella Stewart Gardner. Isabella’s View is a place for me to share as I pursue this particular journey (and the tangents.) While I continue to research and reflect, and as I begin to write in earnest, I hope you will be a part of the conversation – providing feedback, edits, questions, insights, your experiences. Be welcome.

May this Epiphany bring you gifts of wisdom, kindness, and grace.

A traditional Three Kings Day blessing