Thomas E. Marr and Son (active Boston, 1910-1942)
West Cloister, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1915
Glass plate negative
This is a black and white photograph of the West Cloister at Fenway Court. The Farnese Sarcophagus, carved in high relief with satyrs, maenads, and grapevines, is visible to the left amongst a colonnade supporting brick archways that open to the Courtyard. A gong, two stone sculptures on columns, and a stone bench are visible on the right. Straight ahead is a stone sculpture of the Virgin and Child. Beneath the sculpture are pots of plants and foliage.
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Commentary
Isabella worked with the Boston photographic firm Thomas E. Marr & Son, comprised of Thomas and his son Arthur, to document the museum's interiors. You can often see in these photographs Isabella's different iterations of the galleries from the museum's opening in 1903 to her death in 1924.