More than 30 years ago, thieves executed the largest property heist in history at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. In the early hours of March 18, 1990, 13 works were stolen, including six from the second-floor Dutch Room, featuring paintings by Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt. Their empty frames still hang on the gallery’s walls, awaiting the return of the missing artworks.
Now, the Dutch Room is set for a comprehensive renovation over the next two and a half years, updating everything from artwork and furniture to architectural elements. Scheduled for completion by early 2027, this project marks the museum’s final major room restoration, following the recent revamp of the third-floor Titian Room. Director of Conservation Holly Salmon announced that the $1.25 million project is funded by an anonymous donor.
“For much of the project, we will be taking pieces off view and bringing them to our lab for conservators to treat,” Salmon explained, noting that works need to be periodically cycled out because the gallery will remain open during the renovation. In their absence, staff will provide visitors with informational text about the ongoing repair work.
“Visitors will be able to get a lot of information at any moment in the next two and a half years,” Salmon said. Some artworks have already been treated and returned to their original displays, while two empty frames, a couple of chairs, several candlesticks, and two sculptures are currently off view in the conservation lab.
The room’s intricately painted wooden ceiling, dating back to 1500, is the largest collection object to be treated during the project. Conservators will clean its 15 panels individually in situ via scaffolding, allowing visitors to watch the restoration process in real time. An even lengthier task will be reproducing the textiles that once adorned the gallery’s walls, based on historic photographs and fragments of the original silk upholstery held in storage.
The most time-consuming phase will likely be the final stage, which involves deconstructing the room “down to the studs” in the second half of 2026. This phase will strip the walls and floor before installing new upholstery and the restored collection. Throughout this process, visitors will still be able to move around the room and gain insight into the renovation work.
“We’ve found that visitors are engaged with these processes, even if the collection is not visible for a short time,” Salmon said. Unlike the restoration of the Titian Room, which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Salmon does not anticipate any delays in this project.
In addition to the restoration work, the renovation will include continued research into the museum’s collections and scientific analysis of several of the Dutch Room’s paintings, including one of Rembrandt’s earliest self-portraits.
Sayart / Sims green sims010@naver.com
