Certificate of Audience with Pope Leo XIII

Fascinated by religion, Isabella not only collected relics of the papacy but once met a pope in person. On the Gardners’ 1895 trip to Rome, they stayed several months so that Isabella could secure an audience with Pope Leo XIII. She wanted to dress the part and stopped in Paris on her way to Rome to collect a magnificent black dress from her favorite designer Charles Frederick Worth. Upon arrival in the Eternal City, she made enquiries, ultimately leading to a formal invitation from the pope for a personal audience, the rarest of privileges.

On 20 January 1895, Isabella headed to the Vatican alone—her husband Jack spent his afternoon at the American Church in Rome. When she arrived at the pope’s residence, she found him sitting beneath a window. He beckoned her to approach, and she kneeled at his feet. They talked for some time. His Holiness asked Isabella many questions about the United States, as well as about her Anglican faith and her art collection. 

Isabella kept this certificate from her visit in the Vatichino, her personal treasure trove.