Isabella Stewart Gardner’s masterful recreation of a 15th-century Venetian-style palazzo is a therapeutic retreat during the holidays. The sun-drenched courtyard is brimming with holly, red twig dogwood, and red and white poinsettias. On Dec. 20, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will host a Solstice Soirée 5 to 7 p.m., featuring jazz in the courtyard and a discussion with video artist Cliff Evans. Wander over to the Gardner Café, which will be open late. Then do some last-minute holiday shopping at the gift shop. Small in scale, the store exudes the elegance you come to expect from Boston’s foremost patron of the arts. Many of the products come from Gardner’s beloved Italy, like Venetian glass, forming brightly colored earrings, bracelets, and perfume bottles, Florentine paper, and body lotions from Rome. Also on display are delicate silk scarves, staring at $100, and Japanese porcelain vases for $45.

280 The Fenway, 617-566-1401, gardnermuseum.org