Hi, I’m Curator Nat Silver. I always think of this space as capturing Isabella’s passion for the city of Venice. In Isabella’s time, many Bostonians had a ‘thing’ about Venice—and copied its style of architecture—because they felt a kinship with another city whose wealthiest families also had made their money in overseas trade. Look up! The ceiling painting is by Paolo Veronese. This room is named for him. In Isabella’s time, he was the most popular artist associated with Renaissance Venice. For the best view of this Greek mythological scene, move near the doorway opposite the fireplace, and look up from there. Above us, in the clouds, angels fly in to put a crown of flowers on the woman clothed in blue and gold. She’s Hebe, cupbearer to the gods. My eyes are always drawn to all the vibrant and luxurious textiles in the painting—which Venice was famous for, and for which Isabella really had a passion too. 

Moving towards the center of the room, we get a sense of Isabella creating this space around different kinds of luxurious items made in, or traded through, Venice. The walls are covered with panels of embossed, painted and gilded leather. In Isabella’s time, they would have made the walls sparkle, because the parts that appear as a sort of dull gold, or blackened—like around the fireplace—are thin sheets of silver leaf, now tarnished. They’re really impossible to restore because of their delicacy. 

Just to the right of the fireplace, there are two paintings. The one on the top shows famous St. Mark’s Square, as it looked in the 18th century. Then, as now, the heart of Venice. The painting includes the city’s political and religious headquarters and its most important church. Moving to the right, past the window, is a corner-cabinet filled with handmade lace. Isabella collected some really whimsical designs. For example, on the panel on the left, towards the bottom, there’s a wonderful peacock. It’s standing amidst oversize, fantastical plants. Don’t forget, you can always pause this audio if you want to look a bit more; if you do that here I’m sure you’ll spot some other creatures. 

Now, look past the two sets of windows to the right of this lace cabinet. Tucked into the next corner of the room is a desk—with a chair pulled up to it. You can move around the table with the plates and cups—which Isabella included like a stage-set—to get a better view of the chair in particular. I wanted to point it out because it’s a gondola chair. In Isabella’s elderly years—when she was so sick—she was carried around the museum in this chair. 

I like to think that, as she was carried along, she was imagining herself floating along the watery canals of Venice…