|
|
Article: Mrs. Jack's museum recalls `The Woman and the Myth'
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- April 17, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1994 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
At: the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, through Aug. 14.
At the turn of the century, Isabella Stewart Gardner controlled
her image as tightly as Madonna does today. Gardner threw out parts
of her correspondence so posterity wouldn't find anything
unflattering. A plain woman, she had herself painted by artists
willing to shroud her features in a convenient haze. "Don't spoil a
good story by telling the truth," she told her biographer with
bravado.
Truth is, Gardner didn't walk lions down Beacon Street, as legend
has it. Neither did she do penance for her sins by washing the steps
of the Church of the Advent.
But she did, according to contemporary newspaper accounts, insist
on walking a ...