The best art galleries to visit around the world
There’s no doubt the Louvre, Tate Modern, and Metropolitan Museum of Art are three of the world’s most popular galleries. Every year more than 20 million people combine to visit these acclaimed institutions. But there’s many more to discover and here’s a short selection of some of the best.
Le Louvre, Paris – France. No list can be complete without this icon of high art. The Louvre was a medieval fortress and the palace of the kings of France before becoming a museum and gallery two centuries ago. The museum’s collections, which range from antiquity to the first half of the 19th century, are among the most important in the world. Main attractions include Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
The Acropolis Museum, Athens – Greece. The stunning ground floor gallery houses finds from the slopes of the Acropolis. Its amazing transparent glass floor provides a walk over history with a view of the archaeological excavation, while sloping upward to the Acropolis with sanctuaries of the Athenians from each historic period nearby. Smaller settlements have been excavated, yielding glimpses of Athenian life.
State Hermitage, St. Petersburg – Russia. While Russia may be isolated from the artistic centers of Paris, Rome, and London, the Hermitage has managed to acquire a spectacular collection of world art—more than three million items—spanning the years from the Stone Age to the early 20th century. Rembrandt, Rubens, Tiepolo, Titian, da Vinci, Picasso, Gauguin, Cézanne, van Gogh, and Goya are all represented here.
The Prado, Madrid – Spain. The Spanish royal family is responsible for the Prado’s bounty of classical masterpieces. In addition to stars of Spanish painting such as Velázquez, Goya, Ribera, and Zurbarán, the Prado has big collections of Italian (including Titian and Raphael) and Flemish artists.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City – USA. This is the largest museum in the Western Hemisphere. Its collection of more than two million items is not only broad—covering the entire world, from antiquity to the present—but also deep, with holdings so large in a number of areas that some might be considered museums unto themselves.
The Vatican Museums, Vatican City – Italy. Twenty-two separate collections comprise the Musei Vaticani, each one more spectacular than the next. The renowned Sistine Chapel and the Raphael Rooms are not to be missed.
The National Gallery, London – UK. This grand art museum in Trafalgar Square in London houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. It is the fourth most visited art museum in the world, after The Louvre, The British Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Uffizi Gallery, Florence – Italy. The Galleria degli Uffizi holds the world’s finest collection of Renaissance paintings. All the famous names of Italian art are here—not only the Renaissance masters, but also painters from the early medieval, baroque, and Mannerist periods.
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