Boston’s Landmark Museum

In Boston, you can leave Fenway Park, walk through the secluded and bucolic Back Bay Fens and come out 15 minutes later outside of the white granite neoclassical façade of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

An installation called Signs & Symbols created by children of eight community centers throughout Boston.

It’s one of the largest museums in the U.S. with more than 450,000 works of art. Its European art collection alone contains 22,000 works dating from the 7th Century to the late 20th Century. It includes an extensive collection of Northern European art, particularly Dutch and Flemish pieces, which was my focus for the few hours I spent inside the museum.

Jan Jansz den Uyl, Dutch, Breakfast Still Life with Glass and Metalwork, about 1637

David Teniers II, the Younger, Flemish, Butcher Shop, 1642

Roelandt Jacobsz Savery, Flemish, Forest Scene with Hunters, about 1615

Of course, any museum of its size and statue has a strong collection of some of the world’s premiere art works along with some French and Italian gems. In addition, its lower floors contain objects and artifacts from ancient, Greece, Egypt and the Roman Empire.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French, Dance at Bougival, 1883

Smiling Saint Malo, Normandy, France, about 1250-1300

Giovanni Antonio Canaletto, Italian, Bacino di San Marco, Venice, 1734-40

Alcove Bed, Paris, 1787, stamped by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sene

Etruscan and Faliscan art of the Classical and Hellenistic periods

In November, the museum will open a new wing dedicated to American art.