When you go traveling, there are many ways to create your excursion itinerary. But almost everyone includes a visit to museums. Museums are an ideal destination for history and culture lovers. In our time greatest museums the world offer a variety of interactive and interesting experiences that can allow you to unlock the mystery of history in your own unique way. This selection contains 10 museums that are the most famous and recognizable landmarks in the world. You will be impressed by them alone appearance, not to mention what awaits inside.
1. Paris Louvre
Without a doubt the most famous museum in the world, the Louvre was a medieval fortress and palace of the kings of France before it became a museum two centuries ago. Even modernizing the square with the addition of a glass pyramid in its center does not take anything away from the historical charm of the Louvre Palace. The museum's collections, which range from the birth of great ancient civilizations to the first half of the 19th century, are among the most outstanding on the planet. You will find here works by some of the most famous artists in history, such as da Vinci and Rembrandt. The main attraction of the Louvre is Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.
2. Hermitage, St. Petersburg
This gigantic museum has the world's largest collection of paintings. This is a stunning place covering the history of the world from the Stone Age to the present, and the Golden Room is especially impressive with its amazing precious stones. The Hermitage Museum is the most visited in Russia. It is scenically located along the waterfront area in Downtown St. Petersburg. This is a whole museum complex, which includes six different buildings of unique architectural design. Without a doubt, the Emitage is one of the greatest museums in the world, an outstanding landmark of St. Petersburg.
3. British museum in London
Millions of works of art from all continents are collected here. The British Museum's galleries focus on Egypt, Greece, Roman civilization, Asia, Africa and medieval Europe, tracing human history and culture. The Parthenon Marbles, which once adorned the Parthenon in Athens, are kept here. The museum attracts six million visitors every year. If you can't make it to the Egyptian Museum, then you can view the largest and most comprehensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts outside of Cairo right here. Also impressive is the new reading room of the British Museum, which you see in the photo below:
4. Egyptian Museum in Cairo
At the Egyptian Museum in Cairo you will find the most complete collection Egyptian art in the world. Among the thousands of treasures are also famous exhibits from the tomb of Tutankhamun. In 1835, the Egyptian government founded the "Egyptian Antique Treasure Service" in an attempt to stop the looting archaeological sites and arrange an exhibition of collected exhibits. In 1900, the Egyptian Museum building was built, which now houses more than 120,000 objects from the prehistoric era to the Greco-Roman period, including ancient sculptures of the Sphinx. If you are exploring the sights of Egypt, you should not miss the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
5. Uffizi Gallery in Florence
UNESCO estimates that 60% of the most popular artwork in the world are in Italy, and more than half of them are located in Florence. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence will amaze you to the core. This is definitely one of the finest collections of paintings and sculpture on the planet, with works dating back to the Renaissance by masters such as da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Caravaggio and many more. One of the main attractions here is Botticelli's Birth of Venus.
6. Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
Established in 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art houses more than two million works of art from around the world, from antiquity to modern times. You'll find everything from Islamic and European paintings to collections of weapons and armor. Although there are many other great museums in New York, such as the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan is one of the most essential. This is truly one of the greatest museums in the world.
7. State Museum in Amsterdam
8. Vatican Museum
The impressive Vatican Museum contains 22 separate collections, ranging from Etruscan and Egyptian art to maps and modern religious art. Even if you are not religious, you will still be impressed by the sheer beauty and magnificence of Michelangelo's dome and Bernini's spiral columns. The main assets here are the renovated Sistine Chapel and the Raphael Rooms.
9. Prado Museum in Madrid
Although its collection is less impressive, the Prado is one of the most respected and visited museums in the world. The Prado Museum's greatest treasure is Spanish art, with works by Velazquez, Goya, Murillo, El Greco and many other celebrities. Although the museum specializes in paintings, it also houses a large number of drawings, coins, medals and decorative arts. The museum's neoclassical facade is typical of the city's 18th century architecture. Special attention It is worth paying attention to Rubens' Three Graces. It is one of the twenty most visited museums in the world.
10. National Museum Archeology in Athens
The collection of the greatest museums in the world is completed by the Museum of Archeology in Athens. Exactly this appropriate place to admire the masterpieces of ancient Greece. 
Information about upcoming updates to museum collections will appear - follow the information on this page.
Academy Carrara 2019 , Uffizi: 2018 , National Museum in Stockholm: 2019 .
Paris is often called the cultural center of Europe, because the greatest museums in the world are concentrated here, such as the Rodin Museum, the Louvre, and the Pablo Picasso Museum. However, this is not all that Paris can surprise its guests with. Here you can visit quite unusual museums that are a bit strange for the common man, for example, the Museum of Erotic Art, the Museum Oriental arts Guimet, Army Museum. Each of them has its own history and is the world's greatest cultural and historical heritage.
So, the top 6 most striking and famous art museums in Paris and throughout France include:
❶ The Louvre, which occupies an honorable first place and is one of the most striking calling cards of Paris. In this largest museum in the world, located in the palace of King Philip Augustus, from ancient times until the 19th century, a unique collection of masterpieces of world art was collected bit by bit. The museum area is actually divided into three gallery parts: “Sully”, “Denon” and “Richelieu”, each of which contains amazing exhibits. The oldest antique exhibits and the greatest collection of original French painting presented in the Sully gallery hall. Italian painting and great works of masters from the Etruscan and Greek periods are collected in the Denon Gallery. The Richelieu Gallery is presented the latest works eastern and European art and is complemented by interesting French sculpture. When visiting the Louvre, you should set aside a few days to thoroughly familiarize yourself with the magnificent works of the greatest masters.
❷ Jacquemart-André Museum, rightfully the second pearl of Paris. Here, in the former residence of the Jacquemart-André couple, large collection the most striking and famous works presented by Flemish, French and Italian masters of the Renaissance. The greatest masterpieces of Botticelli, Donatello, Rembrandt, Canavelli, Crivelli, Thomas Louche, Francois Boucher, Hubert Robert and other outstanding masters still inspire many modern painters, art connoisseurs and ordinary tourists.
❸ Pablo Picasso Museum, dedicated to the Spanish master who created his masterpieces in the 19th century. Great master, recognized as the best and most “expensive” painter in the world, left behind magnificent creations: paintings, sculptures, engravings, collages, drawings, ceramic objects, which were collected in one place - the Sale mansion. All periods of Picasso's work, collected in huge collection, create a colorful composition that leaves a lasting impression.
❹ Orsay Museum, where a unique collection of impressionism and post-impressionism movements is collected. On three levels of the museum, based in the building of a former station, you can see works by such masters as Claude Monet, Pissaro, Renoir, Van Gogh and others. The collection is complemented by works of art created between 1848 and 1914: sculptures, unique photographs , bright objects of architecture.
❺ Montparnasse Museum, which was founded in the former workshop of Maria Vasilyeva. Here is a collection of works by Edgar Stoebel and Maria Vasilyeva herself (Russian artist). Currently (since the end of September 2013), the museum is temporarily closed by order of the mayor's office.
❻ Salvador Dali Museum, which is largest meeting works of this greatest Spanish artist, director, sculptor and writer. Here, in addition to 300 creations of the master, you can also hear his recordings: the voice of the creator accompanies museum visitors during the excursion.
Text: Valery Shangaev
Saint Petersburg, Palace Square, Hermitage Museum. The Hermitage building itself is a magnificent architectural monument, and the collection of paintings collected in it are masterpieces of world painting. The museum has priceless artistic treasures, created by many generations of unsurpassed masters: from the late Middle Ages to the present day. The Hermitage exhibits delightful examples of elegant Western European painting, works of artists from Flanders and Holland, luxurious in their genuine sincerity, and sensually exciting paintings of the early Italian Renaissance.
An art gallery with paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Monet, Matisse is just the beginning of the list of masters whose works are presented in this amazing museum. It is very difficult to describe in words the impressions of visiting the Hermitage. A day is not enough for a thoughtful and enthusiastic connoisseur of beauty to walk around the entire complex complex, consisting of 6 buildings, and enjoy all the exhibits.
Using the services of a guide, each tourist can purposefully visit those rooms that contain the paintings that are most attractive to him.
The famous Palace of Versailles in Paris is no less unique. The creation of the famous art gallery began under the French king Louis Phillipe. It was by his decree that the Palace of Versailles was filled with magnificent examples of portraiture. Thanks to the art gallery founded by this king, today everyone can see beautiful portraits of those who are inextricably linked with French history. Images of kings and their favorites, queens of France and famous military leaders - all color French nobility depicted on the canvases of great masters.
Speaking about France, it is impossible to remain silent about the calling card of this country - the Louvre. Of course, this is the most famous European museum, incorporating incredible treasures created over the centuries. The Louvre is the main attraction of the French, their pride. The combination of several styles in the architecture of the Louvre gives it an extraordinary romantic mystery. After all, the construction of the Louvre began with the construction of a defensive fortress, and much later, Renaissance architects completed the construction of the royal apartments, turning the fortress into a palace ensemble.
About two and a half thousand paintings are collected in the famous British National Gallery, of which the British are no less proud than the French are proud of the Louvre. And they are rightfully proud. Located in the center of London in Trafalgar Square, the British Gallery has a collection of Western European paintings dating from the 13th century to the present day. Here are the paintings of the great German and Dutch masters, famous painters of England and France. All works are very conveniently exhibited in chronological order.
Madrid, one of the most beautiful European cities, also has its own “pearl”. It is the Prado National Museum, located in an unusually beautiful building designed by Juan de Villanueva back in 1785. Today's collection includes more than 7,600 paintings and 8,000 drawings. This museum has the most complete, completely unique collection of works by the great Spanish masters. Presented here famous works Francisco Goya, El Greco and Diego Velazquez. The Prado Museum is famous for its collection of the famous Dutchman Hieronymus Bosch. The museum workers very carefully and carefully carry out restoration work, which makes it possible to regularly replenish the extensive collection of the Prado National Museum.
Text: Anna Kolisnichenko
The cost of tickets to museums in Europe varies greatly. There are both expensive and very cheap museums. As it turns out, there are museums that you can visit for free. The 14 most expensive and cheapest museums in Europe were identified. The list includes 7 most expensive museums, 5 cheap ones and 2 museums that can be visited for free.
Zurich and Amsterdam distinguished themselves by the high cost of tickets. Thus, the Museum Buehrle in Zurich was in the lead; the visitor must pay 20 euros upon visiting. The museum features a large collection of works by Emil Georg Bührl. But works of art German artist not to mention, the museum has about 200 works by the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists of France. The famous “Water Lilies” by Claude Monet and “Self-Portrait” by Van Gogh are located in the Museum Buehrle.
The famous Vatican Museum was included in the rating. The ticket price for a tourist is 15 euros, but every last Sunday of the month, the museum can be visited for free. On Sundays there are huge queues, but this does not stop tourists. The Vatican Museum consists of 1,400 rooms, including Vatican Pinakothek, which presents 50,000 exhibits. The museum has a large number of paintings by masters of painting from the 11th to 19th centuries. Including Raphael Santi and the incomparable Leonardo da Vinci.
Also, researchers recognized the Hermitage on Amstel as one of the most expensive. The museum is located in Amsterdam and is a branch of the Hermitage. As with the Vatican Museum, entry for visitors costs 15 euros. The museum often hosts various exhibitions, often related to Russia.
The Vincent Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum are also recognized as the most expensive. The Van Gogh Museum displays the largest collection of paintings and drawings by the master. Moreover, the collection contains pictures drawn by Vincent as a child. The property of the Rijksmuseum is the paintings Dutch painting golden age. He is famous for paintings by Rembrandt, Ruisdael, Vermeer, Hoch. The pearl of the collection - " The night Watch" You can visit these museums by paying from 12.5 to 14 euros.
By paying about 15 euros, you can get into the Zurich Kunsthaus. His collection of paintings is considered the largest in Switzerland. It mainly displays paintings by Swiss artists before the 20th century. From the paintings of European masters of painting, you can see Edvard Munch.
The researchers also did not ignore the multi-level Pompidou Center located in Paris. It houses the National Museum and presents such authors as Modigliani, Matisse, Pollock, Dali, Brandt, Kandinsky. Entering Cultural Center, the visitor will part with 12 euros, but in addition to the painting museum, he will also be able to visit the library, the Design Center, cinema halls, and so on.
According to the results of a mini-research, in Europe there are many inexpensive, but famous museums. Entrance for tourists to these vaults ranges from 8 to 10 euros. The Louvre is recognized as the best in this category. It also included the Madrid Prado, the Hermitage, the Parisian Orsay Museum and the Florentine Uffizi Gallery.
But whatever the price of visiting museums, the most profitable were and remain museums where admission is free. The researchers noted two such museums, both in London. These are the most famous museums Tate Modern and the British Museum. Tate Modern presents a large amount of “fresh” art, as well as works by classics - Pierre Bonnard, Claude Monet, Salvador Dali, Jackson Polloco and many other authors. The British Museum is famous for its ancient Roman and Greek relics, but also contains works by Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci.
Text: Yana Pelevina
Hundreds of thousands of tourists come to Amsterdam every year to visit exhibitions and museums. Along with museums such as the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House, the city has many unusual exhibitions. We will talk about ten of the most unique of them in our article.
❶ Hemp Museum. This is the most popular museum hemp in the world. Its owner, Ben Dronkers, has collected many items related to this plant. Here you can see a large collection of smoking pipes. In a working greenhouse, visitors can see what growing hemp looks like. The plant's seeds are sold in the museum shop.
❷ Tattoo Museum. In 2011, a museum dedicated to tattoos was opened in Amsterdam. The exhibition tells about the history of applying drawings to the body in different countries Oh. The collection represents various regions: Africa, Asia, America, Oceania. Also here you can learn about the meaning of tattoos for representatives of various subcultures and professions: sailors, prisoners, soldiers, thieves, bikers. Tattoo admirers hold meetings and seminars at the club at the museum.
❸ Cat Museum. This museum was created by the Dutchman William Meyer, who decided to preserve the memory of his cat Tom in this way. The museum displays books, posters, paintings and sculptures related to cats. The exhibition occupies two floors of a three-story house, on the third floor of which the owner lives.
❹ Museum of Torture. To better recreate the frightening atmosphere of medieval justice, the museum's rooms have dim lighting and are painted in dark colors. Here you can see devices that were used for torture in different countries.
❺ Vrolik Museum. This museum has a collection of pathological embryos, skulls and bones, making this a popular place among medical students. The scientist Gerardus Vrolik began collecting such a collection in the 18th century, and the museum bears his name.
❻ Museum of Sex. Each room of this museum is dedicated to individuals whose sexual side of life is of interest. These are the Marquis de Sade, Oscar Wilde, the Marquis de Pompadour, Rudolph Valentino, Mata Hari and others. The atmosphere in the museum is very pleasant - visitors have the opportunity to enjoy the exhibition accompanied by good music.
❼ Museum of the Dead. This museum will tell you about the attitude towards death in different times, funeral traditions different religions, unusual funerals.
❽ Museum of Erotica. Three floors of the building are dedicated to all kinds of erotic trifles and souvenirs. Here you can see Snow White and the dwarves in candid poses, paintings depicting erotic scenes and purchase various contraceptives.
❾ Floating house-museum. This attraction demonstrates how a barge can be transformed into a comfortable place to live. Since 1914, the ship was used to transport goods, and later it was converted. There are 4 cabins, a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and a children's play area. The barge does not stand still, but travels around Amsterdam, stopping at places popular among tourists.
❿ Fluorescent Museum. This is the only museum of its kind in the world, which opened in 1999. On the ground floor of the museum there is an art gallery where you can buy glow-in-the-dark paintings. Also presented is a collection of luminous minerals brought from different countries, and sculptures made from them.
Text: Lidia Volkova
Rijksmuseum - national Art Museum, located on Museum Square in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is one of the main attractions of the city. It was founded in The Hague in 1800, but by order of the King of Holland Louis Bonaparte (brother of Napoleon I Bonaparte) in 1808 it was transported to Amsterdam. The museum exhibits 8 thousand objects of art and history, including famous paintings by Jan Wermeer, Frans Hals, Rembrandt and his students. The main place in the exhibition is given to one of the most famous paintings in the world - “The Night Watch” by Rembrandt. It also contains a small Asian collection.
The New York Museum of Modern Art is an art museum founded in 1929. Located in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Many people consider the museum's collection to be the world's finest collection of masterpieces of modern Western art - the museum has more than 150,000 individual works, as well as 22,000 films, 4 million photographs, 300,000 copies of books and periodicals, 70,000 artist files. The collection includes works without which it is impossible to imagine the art of the 20th century - “ Starlight Night"Van Gogh, "Dance" by Henri Matisse, "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" by Picasso, "The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali, "Bird in Space" by Constantin Brâncuşi. It is one of New York's top attractions and welcomes 2.67 million visitors annually.
The Smithsonian Institution is a complex of museums and research centers located primarily in Washington, DC, USA. It was founded in 1846 by the will of the English chemist and mineralogist James Smithson, who bequeathed his fortune to the “increase and dissemination of knowledge.” The Smithsonian Institution includes 19 museums, a zoological park and 9 research centers, containing more than 140 million objects (art, artifacts and specimens).
At number seven on the list best museums World Museum of Natural History is located. It is one of three major museums located in South Kensington, London. Its collection includes more than 70 million artifacts, sorted into 5 main sections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology and zoology. It is best known for its collections of dinosaur skeletons, in particular the famous Diplodocus skeleton (26 meters long) in the central hall, as well as an interesting mechanical model of a Tyrannosaurus rex.
The Prado is an art museum and gallery located in Madrid, the capital of Spain. With over 1.8 million visitors a year, the museum is one of the most visited tourist sites in Madrid. It was founded in 1819. Its collection currently includes about 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 4,800 prints, as well as about 8,000 other works of art and historical documents. Here is one of the best and most complete collections of paintings in the world by European masters of the period XVI-XIX, such as Bosch, Velazquez, Goya, Murillo, Zurbaran, El Greco and others.
Uffizi Gallery - world famous art Gallery, located in Florence, near Piazza della Signoria, Italy. It is one of the oldest museums in Europe, as well as one of the largest and most important museums in Europe. visual arts. Hundreds of masterpieces by such masters as Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Giorgione, Titian, Fra Filippo Lippi and many others are presented here. The collection is dominated by paintings from the Italian and Flemish schools. There is also a gallery of self-portraits of famous artists (1600 works) and ancient sculptures.
The State Hermitage Museum is one of the world's largest art and cultural-historical museums, located in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was founded in 1764 by Catherine II the Great and opened to the public in 1852. The total area of the museum is 127,478 m². The collections occupy a large complex of six historical buildings located along the Palace Embankment. The Hermitage holds more than 2.7 million works of art different eras, countries and peoples representing world culture several thousand years. It also contains the largest collection of paintings in the world. About 4 million people visit the museum every year.
The British Museum is the main historical and archaeological museum of Great Britain, located in Bloomsbury, London. It was founded in 1753, from the collection of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane, and opened to the public on January 15, 1759. Its permanent collection contains approximately 8 million items that document cultural history humanity from ancient times to the present day, including numerous drawings, engravings, medals, coins and books from different eras. The extensive ethnographic collections of the British Museum contain monuments from Africa, America, Oceania, etc. The most famous exhibits are: Egyptian mummies, sculptures from the Athens Parthenon, the Rosetta Stone, the Portland Vase, the Sutton Hoo treasure and many others.
The Louvre is an art museum, the main attraction of the city, located in the very center of Paris on the right bank of the Seine. It is one of the largest and most visited museums in the world (9.26 million visitors in 2014). It was opened on August 10, 1793. It is a complex of buildings with a total area of 60,600 square meters, which displays 35 thousand works of art from ancient times to mid-19th century. All exhibits are divided into eight categories Ancient Egypt, Ancient Near East, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Islamic art, Sculpture, Painting, Crafts, Drawing and graphics. In total, the Louvre collection contains about 300,000 exhibits.
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"Threatening Weather", René Magritte, 1929
Louvre (Paris)
“Liberty Leading the People” (La Liberté guidant le peuple) or “Freedom on the Barricades”, Eugene Delacroix.
The Louvre is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Like many national museums, it began with royal collection. The collection was actively replenished by patrons of art from war trophies and works confiscated during the revolution.
Today, about 300 thousand exhibits are stored here. 35 thousand of them are presented in the online gallery. The most famous are “La Gioconda” by Leonardo da Vinci, “The Beautiful Gardener” by Raphael, “The Lacemaker” by John Vermeer, sculptures of the Venus de Milo and the Nike of Samothrace.
Prado Museum (Madrid)
Triptych "Garden" earthly pleasures", Hieronymus Bosch, 1490-1500.
The Prado Museum (Museo del Prado) is one of the largest and most visited art museums in the world. His collection contains the most full meetings Bosch, Velazquez, Goya, Murillo, Zurbaran and El Greco. The total number of exhibits is about 30 thousand.
Photos of more than 11 thousand works stored in the museum have been published on the Internet. For easy navigation, there is a division by topic: nudes and saints, socialist realism and mythology. In addition, an alphabetical index with the names of artists is available. The “Masterpieces” selection will not let you miss the most important thing.
New York Museum of Modern Art
"Three Musicians" Pablo Picasso. Fontainebleau, summer (1921).
The Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan in New York (Museum of Modern Art, abbreviated as MoMA) is one of the first and most representative museums of modern art in the world. It is one of the three most visited museums in the United States and one of the twenty most visited art museums in the world.
MoMA has posted 65,000 digitized paintings online, dating from 1850 to the present. In total, the museum’s collection contains over 200 thousand works by 10 thousand artists. The online collection can be searched by specific painting, by the name of the artist, and by specified filters.
Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam)
"The Night Watch, or the Performance of the Rifle Company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburg." Rembrandt Van Rijn.
You don’t have to come to Amsterdam to wander the halls of the famous Rijksmuseum. The updated interiors of the 19th century building and the 200 thousand masterpieces housed there can be found on the Google Arts & Culture project. Make the gallery closer allow smartphone and Google app Cardboard, available for Android and iOS.
Along with the main collection of the Rijksmuseum, the digital recording includes five new exhibitions dedicated to the jeweler Jan Lutma, the artists Jan Steen, Jan Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn and, separately, the monumental painting “The Night Watch”, the pride of the museum.
Solomon Guggenheim Museum (New York)
Next to Jas de Bouffan. Paul Cezanne.
The permanent collection of the Guggenheim contains more than 7 thousand works. About 1,700 of them have been digitized. Each artist’s page on the museum’s website contains a voluminous overview of his work; many exhibits are supplemented by comments from art historians. The online archive covers the period from late XIX centuries to the present day. There are works by Paul Cezanne and Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Bauhaus school teachers Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Wassily Kandinsky and many other modern classics. There is a search and an alphabetical index of the authors of all works in the collection.
Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
Haystacks, snow effect, morning. Claude Monet.
The Getty Museum is the largest art museum in California and the West Coast of the United States. It was founded by oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty, who at the time of his death was the richest man in the world. Thanks to the bequeathed billions, the museum has become the most active buyer of works by the “old masters” and antique sculpture at international auctions.
Now you can create your own selections of your favorite paintings, select exhibits to illustrate art history education, post them on social networks, or even just “stick” to electronic library Museum, looking at magnificent paintings in every detail.
Hermitage (St. Petersburg)
Annunciation. Filippino Lippi, Italy, mid-1490s.
Russia's largest museum occupies five buildings housing more than 3 million works of art.
The museum arose as a private collection of Catherine II and, thanks to the empress, acquired a collection of works by outstanding Flemish, Dutch, Italian and French artists. The archive of digitized works of the Hermitage is divided by topic, working convenient search, it is possible to create your own collection and view the collections of other users. On the “In Focus” section page, you can study the exhibits in detail, read detailed information about them and watch videos with expert comments.
British Museum (London)
Large gold buckle; early Anglo-Saxon period, early 7th century; burial mound necropolis of Sutton Hoo.
The main historical and archaeological museum of Great Britain and one of largest museums world, the second most visited art museum after the Louvre, has posted more than 3.5 million exhibits online.
The colonial expansion of the British Empire contributed to the rapid expansion of the collection of the country's main and first public national museum in the world. Since the mid-18th century, it has managed to collect more than 8 million exhibits: from ancient Greek bas-reliefs to Hirst prints. It is here that the Rosetta Stone, thanks to which it was possible to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, is kept, the largest collection in the West Chinese porcelain, the richest collection of engravings and paintings of the Renaissance. The British Museum's online collection is also one of the largest in the world, with more than 3.5 million items on its website. An advanced search is available by date of creation, technique of execution and a dozen more parameters.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
Group of thirteen “beheaded” soldiers / author unknown (1910)
Metropolitan Museum of Art ( Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts, New York City's largest art museum in the United States and one of the most celebrated museums in the world, has made publicly available a collection of nearly 400,000 high-resolution digitized works of art and vintage photographs.
Anyone can look at the most interesting retro photos from the museum collection. The images are not licensed for commercial use, but you can download the frame you like for your own needs, for example, to place it in a frame.
Vincent Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam)
The Van Gogh Museum has made available online 1,800 posters, books and drawings from its collection. The management of the art institution published the works due to the fact that they do not fit into the permanent collection, which is why for a long time remained inaccessible to the general public.
A unique opportunity to travel through time and space is provided by museums where exhibits of various national cultures, created by hands like modern masters, and famous ancestors. The topic of the article is the most famous and great museums in the world that you should visit.
general review
What criteria are used as a basis?
- One of the most important is attendance. The leader is the French Louvre, whose record is approaching 10 million people. In second place is the British Museum (about 8 million). The Metropolitan Museum of Art (USA) and the Vatican Museum occupy third and fourth place in the ranking, respectively. Each of them exceeded the attendance threshold of 6 million.
- Footprint. The leader here is again the Louvre, although officially it is given third position (160 thousand square meters). Formally, it is ahead of, for example, the Art Museum of Japan (Tokyo), but the exhibition area of the Louvre is the most impressive (58 thousand square meters).
- The world's greatest museums are defined by the number of exhibits and their historical value.
- Another criterion is the choice of travelers. The Traveller's Choice competition is held annually, with the nomination “Museums of the World”. In 2016, the ranking was topped by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the top ten included the Art Institute of Chicago, the Hermitage (third position) and the very young September 11 Museum (USA), opened in 2013. His exhibitions are dedicated to the tragic events in New York.
Greatest Louvre (France)
Before becoming a museum, the Louvre was a fortress and then the residence of the kings of France. His exhibitions were presented to the public in 1793, during the Great bourgeois revolution. Unique collection was formed by King Francis I and was constantly replenished. Its treasuries today contain more than 300 thousand exhibits, 35 thousand of which are simultaneously on display for visitors: from Egyptian and Phoenician antiquities to modern sculptures and jewelry.
Most Valuable works of art- these are statues of Venus de Milo and Nike of Samothrace, Delacroix and the great Rembrandt. Art lovers come to see the masterpiece of the outstanding Renaissance master Leonard da Vinci - the Mona Lisa. In 1911, the painting was stolen by an Italian from Perugia, but was returned 27 months later after lengthy negotiations with Italy. All the greatest museums in the world ensure the preservation of paintings. “Mona Lisa” is the only exhibit that is not insured by the state, because it is considered priceless.
Today the museum, located on the rue de Rivoli in the center of Paris, includes the Old and New Louvre. In 1989, the American Yong Min Pei implemented a project to unite the Louvre into a single complex. A special entrance in the form of a glass pyramid was built, allowing the number of visitors to triple.
British Museum (London)
The date of its foundation (1753) is impressive. The collection began with the doctor Hans Sloan, a collector of ancient manuscripts, books, plants and medals. Today it is the largest historical and archaeological repository in Great Britain, where about 13 million exhibits are collected. They are located in 100 galleries according to territorial and chronological criteria. The pearls of the exhibition are the Parthenon marbles, attributed to the Greek sculptor Phidias, who made it possible to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, and a piece of the beard of the Great Sphinx of Giza. The world's greatest museums have built rich collections by plundering colonial countries.
In the 19th century, the old building was demolished, and in its place, architect Robert Smike built a unique building in the neoclassical style. Located in the Bloomsbury area, it underwent redevelopment in the 20th century (Foster's project), acquiring modern look. A special feature of the museum is the creation on its basis in 1972 of a separate structure - the British Library.
Vatican Museums - a single complex
It is generally accepted that the complex occupies the most significant territory. The impression is formed due to the high density of exhibits per unit area. The entire Vatican is located on just half a square kilometer, while the museum's fund includes 50 thousand paintings, sculptures and jewelry. All the greatest museums in the world (photos presented in the article) have unique features.
The main shrine of this is The Sistine Chapel, where since the 15th century it has been painted with frescoes by the great Michelangelo, it is the crown of the creation of human hands. To get there, you need to go through dozens of museum halls, enjoying the splendor of Catholic churches, tombs and paintings by Raphael and other artists.
The small state itself can be considered as a single museum architectural monuments, the construction of which began in the 14th century.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (USA)
The New York Museum ranks first among Traveller's Choice winners, although it was founded in a later period - in 1870. It began with private collections donated to the state and exhibited in the premises of the dance school. At the turn of the century, the architect Hyde built the main building , and a little later - the side wings of the Metropolitan Museum, representing a number of buildings from different times. They are connected by stairs and passages, storing 3 million works of art. The largest collection was created by the Costume Institute.
Not all of the world's greatest museums, described in the article, can boast of hosting large-scale events, such as the annual Met Gala charity ball with the participation of world stars. In 2016, the Costume Institute celebrated its 70th anniversary.
National Prado Museum
The paintings of the great Spaniards are presented in Madrid. The National Museum was founded in 1785 and has collected large-scale collections of paintings by Goya, Velazquez, Zurbaran and El Greco. There are also works by great Italian and Flemish masters, examples of ancient coins, jewelry and porcelain. Since 1819, the museum has been housed in the current building, designed in the classicist style (architect Villanueva), and is open to visitors. On an area of 58 thousand square meters. meters, 1,300 works are exhibited, and the rest (more than 20 thousand) are stored in storage rooms.
The world's greatest museums often have branches. Modern Art The Prado is presented in the Villahermosa Palace. A special feature of the Spanish museum is the restrained elegance of the buildings, in contrast to the Louvre and the Hermitage, which we will discuss below.
Hermitage (St. Petersburg)
The name is translated from French as a secluded place, but today it is one of the most visited in the world. Founded by Catherine at the end of the 18th century, the museum has the title of the best in 2014. Under Nicholas I, the collection became so large that the doors of the Imperial Palace opened to the public. Today, 3 million works of art delight the eyes of visitors, telling the story since the Stone Age. Of particular interest are the Diamond and Gold vaults of the Hermitage, where an additional ticket is required.
Great Russian museums are located in buildings that have cultural and historical significance for the country. The Hermitage consists of five buildings located on the banks of the Neva (Palace Embankment). Luxurious Winter Palace in the Baroque style by architect B. Rastrelli - the decoration of St. Petersburg and the greatest historical monument.
