The Gallery marks the culmination of the vista of rooms on the west side of the first floor. The room originally served as Nickerson’s Art Gallery. The domestic art museum, a concept that developed during the waning decades of the late 19th century in America, satisfied many ideological functions for the Gilded Age nouveaux riches. Amassing a private art collection helped foster an appearance of learning and sophisticated taste, while simultaneously serving as a demonstration of one’s status and financial success. The room was dramatically altered by Lucius Fisher in 1900–1901, in order to display his collection of game animals, weaponry and rare books. It was during Fisher’s renovation of the room that the fireplace, tall bookcases and stained glass dome were installed.