From the museum’s website
Off the Wall: Gardner and Her Masterpieces features twenty-five select highlights from the Museumâs incomparable fine art collection, as well as forty rarely-seen items from the institutional archives. This once-in-a-lifetime exhibitionâprompted by ongoing preservation and maintenance of her historic âpalazzoâ on the Fenway in Bostonâprovides visitors with direct access to extraordinary works by artists such as Botticelli, Raphael, and Rembrandt, among others.
Placing a select group of paintings and drawings in our contemporary exhibition space, seen up close and lit to best advantage, allows us to reconsider the museumâs rich holdings and to think anew about how works from the Renaissance to the Rococo speak to us today.
A selection from the archives focuses on Gardner herselfâtraveler, collector of fine art, and a patron of the arts and letters. When taken together, both the masterpieces and the archival material on display allow us to better understand Gardnerâs aspirations and her astonishing achievements.