17 Best Museums in Boston

"This is one of our favorite museums in Boston—and the country. At once intimate and unparalleled in its grandeur, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum draws on the vast art collection of its eponymous (and eccentric) founder, who had a thirst for travel, a bohemian lifestyle, and the finest of luxuries. Set within a Venetian-style palazzo, surrounding an elegant courtyard, masterpieces by the likes of Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, and John Singer Sargent share space with impressive architectural elements. Gardner herself carefully curated the collection of more than 17,000 objects, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, textiles, metalworks, ceramics, books, manuscripts, and archival material, all collected during her lifetime. A Renzo Piano–designed wing, which opened in 2012, houses a cafe and gift shop and provides interdisciplinary, multipurpose space for contemporary artists, musicians, and scholars to work and share their creations." - Elizabeth Wellington, Andrew Sessa