In the late 19th century Mrs. Gardner and her husband traveled the world collecting art. Their home, built in the style of a 15th-century Venetian palace, houses great works from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East along with Mrs. Gardiner’s eccentric personal touches like a moonstone covering a lock of Robert Browning’s hair.

The eccentric Venetian-style palazzo built about a century ago that is crammed with 2,500 of Mrs. Gardner’s acquisitions. Her will warns that if the permanent collection is disturbed, it will be given to Harvard; that partly explains the empty frames of two Rembrandts and a Vermeer taken along with other pieces in a 1990 robbery that is unsolved. Consider buying the $4 audio guide or $16 paperback guide because much of the collection is unlabeled.

Visitors with the name Isabella are admitted free; everyone else pays $10.

Where Boston Common is always snow-covered as the sun fades in Hassam’s painting, which hangs in the Art of the Americas gallery on the first floor. The museum has strong collections of Asian and American works, portraits and landscapes by John Singer Sargent and a collection of silver teapots by Paul Revere. On weekends, there are screenings of foreign and classic films.