The 19th Century Allure of Roman Ruins

This blog post is one of a two-part series on collections at the Gibson House Museum from Italy.

In 1898, after a year of study at MIT for architecture, Charlie Gibson took an extended trip to Europe. It was common for wealthy American men to make such a trip—to cap off their education and before settling down to work and family—known in nineteenth-century parlance as a Grand Tour. The Grand Tour could include a variety of European destinations (some even traveled as far as Turkey), but the essential stops were London, Paris, Venice, and Rome. Travel to Rome, in particular, was seen as a chance to complete a classical education, specifically through study of the architecture and history of ancient Rome.

Traveling to Rome was difficult in the nineteenth century. A robust tourist industry had developed by the eighteenth century, and yet transportation, lodging, and access to reliable guides remained sketchy. Some Italian architects and artists made a living serving Grand Tourists. Giovanni Batista Piranesi was one. Starting as early as 1740, Piranesi worked in Rome producing views of the ancient Roman ruins. For many, Piranesi’s depictions of Rome were the way they imagined and understood the city.

Veduta dell'Anfiteatro Flavio, c. 1771
Giovanni Batista Piranesi

Boston Interconnected: Then and Now

Boston is small for a “big city.” This was certainly true for the Gibson family’s upper- class social circles in the nineteenth century. They married into their friends’ families and were business partners with their neighbors. It’s true for me, too, when I discover that a new friend went to my university, or I unexpectedly attend the same event as a colleague. The more time one spends here, the easier it becomes to recognize the interconnectedness of people and places. It’s also true for the Gibson House Museum in its many connections to other historic organizations throughout the greater-Boston area.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit John Singer Sargent

Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 

This well-known Sargent painting hangs in the new American Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). The four girls pictured are the daughters of Edward and Isa Boit, as the title informs. The room is in their Paris apartment, which they moved into after leaving 110 Beacon Street, Boston—just three houses down from the Gibson family. In addition to being neighbors, Charles and Rosamond Gibson were friends of the Boits and both were members of their wedding party. 

Boys in White Dresses: Childhood Gender Expression in the Nineteenth Century

Based on today’s norms, the children in the above photographs might appear to be girls. Even early museum records reference the drawing on the right as “Portrait of Two Young Girls” and the painting on the left as “Little Girl with Dog.” Many visitors are surprised to hear, however, that two of the three children pictured above are boys.

The hyper-gendering of young children’s clothing in the U.S. today is a recent phenomenon, not common before the 1940s. Previously, little boys wore dresses and long hair until the age of six or seven. White dresses, since they could be bleached clean, were the most functional clothing option for all children.

Cleopatra Dissolving the Pearl

In November of 1872, the Great Fire raged through downtown Boston. The Gibson house was in no serious danger, but Rosamond Warren Gibson’s (1846–1934) childhood home at 2 Park St. stood directly in the path of the blaze. Rosamond was summoned to rescue some of the Warren family’s things before the fire reached the house. Here is her account of the episode, from her recollections: