The most famous galleries in the world. The greatest museums in the world: description and photos

It does not matter whether young boys and girls full of energy or measured, wise people of a more mature age are traveling, wherever a tourist goes to aristocratic Europe, majestic Russia, ancient Africa or young America, there will be famous museums of the world everywhere on the route.

Museums in Europe

Formerly a palace, the Louvre enchants with its architecture, but first of all it is an art museum of the world. Initially, the Louvre had only 2,500 paintings, while now, its collection has exceeded 6,000 paintings. Rembrandt, da Vinci, Rubens, Titian, Poussin, David, Enger, Delacroix, Reni, Caravaggio and this is only a small part of the famous artists, whose paintings are kept in the famous museum of Europe. In addition to painting, the Louvre owns an excellent collection of sculptures, furniture, jewelry and utensils from different times and eras, and also shows tourists the unique interiors of famous historical figures. All this allows the Louvre to bear the title of the most famous museum in Europe.

In any of the lists of famous museums in the world, there is the British Museum in London. It is not only included in the list of the oldest museums in the world, but offers to get acquainted with the exhibits collected on seven continents and having more than one thousand years of history. Relics of ancient Egypt, French applied art of the 17th century, the Rosetta Stone, sculptures of Greece, Anglo-Saxon manuscripts and even the famous stones from Easter Island are stored here.

Among the famous museums of the world, the museum in the Vatican occupies a worthy place, standing out from the rest not only for its religiosity, but also for 22 separate collections of masterpieces. Having examined the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, Raphael's apartments, the Vatican Pinakothek, it is impossible to remain indifferent. Non-religious people, representatives of scientific views, will be able to admire the collection of geographical maps displayed here.

Also among the museums of Europe are worthy of attention:

1. Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which owns the most incredible collection of paintings and sculptures in the world;

2. State Museum in Amsterdam, which stores Rembrandt's masterpiece "The Night Watch";

3. Prado Museum in Madrid, which has an amazing collection of Spanish art;

4. Dresden Art Gallery, which survived the bombing of World War II.

Museums of Russia

All art museums of the world bow before the collection of paintings presented in the Hermitage, which is rightfully recognized as the most numerous. The founder of the painting collection was Catherine II, and today it has about 60 thousand paintings. With over three million exhibits and seven separate buildings, it is no wonder that the Hermitage has taken its rightful place among the most famous museums in the world. Canvases, precious stones, archaeological finds from different eras, pieces of furniture from tsarist Russia, personal belongings of Russian tsars - the number of exhibits is striking in variety.

It is impossible to visit Moscow and not visit the State Tretyakov Gallery, the most famous museum in Russia, which will first of all introduce you to the art school of Russian masters. These are paintings by Vrubel, Shishkin, Perov, Malevich. The museum features painting exhibits spanning the classical schools of icon painting and the bold avant-garde. The Tretyakov Gallery keeps the largest collection of fine arts of the Russian nation, it has 57,000 works.

Museums of Africa and America

Egyptian culture is not only one of the most ancient, but mysterious in the world, so it is not surprising that the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is on the list of the most visited, and, therefore, the most famous museums in the world. Here is the most complete collection of masterpieces and archaeological finds of Egyptian culture, about 120 thousand exhibits. In this museum you can find items with a history of five thousand years, admire the wealth of Ancient Egypt, see with your own eyes the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II the Great.

The history of the existence of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York began with the desire of businessmen to introduce ordinary Americans to the heritage of world art, because it was private collections that formed the basis of the museum's exhibits. Initially, the museum was positioned as an art museum, however, today it occupies a worthy place among the art museums of the world. Exhibits of ancient cultures are exhibited here, as well as art objects of modern masters. It is worth noting that the Metropolitan Museum of Art is the most famous museum of works of art in the United States of America.

But how to visit these museums and not spend all your savings? There is an exit!. Additionally, we can collect information about the sights and countries of the world in order to create the best travel route.

Albertina.
Albertina Gallery in Vienna, one of the world's largest collections of graphics (over 35,000 drawings, miniatures, over one million printed graphics). Founded in 1776 as the collection of Duke Albert, in 1920 merged with the collection of the engraving cabinet of the University of Vienna. Among the masterpieces of graphic art stored in the Albertina are works by Raphael, Dürer, Rubens and other artists.

Bavarian State Collections of Paintings.
Association of several art museums, concentrated mainly in Munich. The Old Pinakothek, founded in 1836, includes works by old European, including German masters ("Four Apostles" by Durer, "Crown with Thorns" by Titian, a unique collection of works by Rubens, etc.); the late classicist building was built in 1826–1836 (architect L. von Klenze). New Pinakothek and New Gallery, founded in 1853, store the works of German painters and sculptors of the 19th century (New Pinakothek), European painting and sculpture of the 19th-20th centuries (New Gallery); the building in the style of late German classicism was built in 1838-1848 (architect G.F. Zibland). Schack Gallery, founded in 1865 as a collection of late Romantic German art; the building was built in 1907–1909 (architect T. Fischer). The Bavarian State Collections of Paintings also includes collections of the New Palace in the suburbs of Schleissheim (art by old German masters), the "New Castle" (painting by Baroque masters), as well as branches in other cities of Bavaria.

British museum.
The British Museum in London is one of the largest museums in the world. Founded in 1753. The British Museum stores monuments of art, culture and history of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia (including the Rosetta Stone, Assyrian reliefs, etc.), Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome (reliefs of the Parthenon and the mausoleum in Halicarnassus, the richest collections of Greek vase paintings, a collection of antique cameos) , peoples of Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Oceania, collections of engravings, drawings, coins and medals, unique in size and representativeness. The library of the British Museum contains more than 7 million books, about 105 thousand manuscripts, including Egyptian papyri. The building of the British Museum in the neoclassical style of the 19th century was built in 1823–1847 (architect R. Smork).

Vatican Meetings.
The complex of papal museums and art galleries on the territory of the Vatican. The Pio-Clementino Museum (Sculpture Museum), founded in the 1770s by Clement XIV and expanded by Pius VI, houses a collection of ancient sculpture, including numerous Roman copies of ancient Greek plastic masterpieces that have not survived in the original; the building was built in 1769–1774 (architect M. Simonetti). the Chiaramonti Museum, founded in the early 19th century as a collection of antique sculpture; the building was built in 1817–1822. Gregorian museums (founded by Gregory XVI in 1838-1839): Etruscan with collections of Etruscan cultural monuments and Egyptian with a collection of ancient Egyptian art. The Vatican Pinakothek, founded in 1932, stores Italian paintings of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the 17th century. The Vatican collections also include chapels, halls and galleries of the Vatican with murals by Renaissance masters (the chapel of Nicholas V, the Sistine chapel, the Stanzas and Loggias of Raphael, etc.), the Sacred Museum, exhibiting frescoes from the era of Emperor Augustus.

Tate Gallery.
The Tate Art Gallery in London was founded in 1897. Includes a gallery of British painting and graphics of the 16th-20th centuries (works by Lely, Hogarth, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Constable, Turner, etc.) and a collection of European paintings and sculptures of the late 19th-20th centuries.

State museums in Berlin.
Museums in Berlin is one of the largest museum complexes in the world. It was founded in 1830 on the basis of the collections of the Electors of Brandenburg and the kings of Prussia. The main part of the State Museums is located on the so-called Museum Island in the eastern part of the city. Here are the National Gallery (founded in 1876; the collection mainly contains works of German fine art from the end of the 18th century), the Asiatic Museum (the art of Babylonia, Assyria, including the famous Procession Road and the Ishtar Gate), the Museum of Islam (monumental art , miniatures, carpets, etc.), the Antique Collection (the Pergamon altar, works of Greek and Roman sculpture, ancient vase painting), the East Asian Museum, the Egyptian Museum (sculptural portraits, including the stone head of Nefertiti, reliefs, paintings, arts and crafts art), Early Christian-Byzantine collection, Sculpture collection, Picture gallery (works of old masters), Cabinet of engravings, Numismatic cabinet, Artistic and industrial museum. The main buildings of the State Museums are the Old Museum (1824–1828, architect K.F. Schinkel), the Pergamon Museum (1909–1930). In 1957, another complex of State Museums (the so-called Berlin-Dahlem) was founded in the Dahlem district of West Berlin. It includes the Egyptian Museum, the Antique Museum, the Art Gallery (one of the richest collections of old masters in Europe, including works by Jan van Eyck Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt), the New National Gallery (modern art; the building was built in 1968 by architect L Mies van der Rohe), as well as museums of Islamic, Indian and Far Eastern art, German folk art, ethnographic, applied art, primitive and ancient history, etc. Currently, the art collections of the Museum Island and Dahlem are combined into a single museum complex.

Googong.
Art Museum in Beijing. Founded in 1914 as a repository of the richest collections of Chinese art. Gugun includes an art gallery, collections of bronze items, sculptures, jewelry art and artistic crafts. Located in the complex of "Ancient Palaces" (the former imperial residence) in the central part of the Forbidden City - the oldest part of Beijing.

Dresden Art Gallery.
Art Gallery in Dresden, one of the world's largest collections of paintings, part of the Dresden Art Collections. Founded in 1560 as a palace assembly of Saxon electors, expanded in 1722; after the construction of a special building (1847-1856, architects G. Semper, M. Henel; destroyed during the bombing of Dresden in February 1945; restored by 1956), which became part of the Zwinger palace ensemble, it was opened to the public. In 1945, a significant part of the collection of the Art Gallery, extracted from hiding places unsuitable for storing works of art, was taken to the USSR and, after restoration, was returned to Dresden in 1955. The main part of the Picture Gallery is the Old Masters Gallery: paintings by van Eyck, Giorgione, Raphael (including the famous "Sistine Madonna"), Titian, Correggio, Veronese, Durer, Holbein, Cranach, Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Velasquez, Poussin, Watteau and others. The Gallery of New Masters (located in Pilniy Castle near Dresden) stores paintings of European art schools of the 19th-20th centuries. collection of works of arts and crafts.

Egyptian Museum.
Museum in Cairo. the world's most complete collection of monuments of art and culture of Ancient Egypt (including finds from the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen), one of the main centers for the study of ancient Egyptian history and artistic culture. Founded in 1858 by the French Egyptologist O.F. Mariet. The building of the Egyptian Museum was built in 1902 (architect M. Durnon).

Royal Museum of Fine Arts.
The Royal Museum in Antwerp was founded in 1810. An extensive collection of works of Western European art, especially the masters of the Old Dutch (Masseys, Patinir, Rogier van der Weyden, Jan van Eyck, etc.), Flemish and Belgian schools of painting. The museum building was built in 1878-1890 (architects J. Winders, F. van Dyck).

Louvre.
The Louvre Museum in Paris, an architectural monument and one of the largest art museums in the world. Originally a royal palace in the historical center of the city; It was built from 1546 (architects P. Lesko, C. Perrault, and others; sculptural decor by J. Goujon; interior design by Ch. Lebrun, and others). Since 1791 - an art museum. The collection of the Louvre is based on former royal collections, as well as collections of monasteries and private individuals. The Louvre stores collections of Oriental antiquities, ancient Egyptian, antique, Western European (especially French and Italian schools) art, unique in their completeness and artistic quality. Among the masterpieces of the Louvre are the ancient Greek statues "Nike of Samothrace" and "Venus of Melos", the statues of Michelangelo "The Resurrected Slave" and "The Dying Slave", the portrait of Monna Lisa ("Gioconda") by Leonardo da Vinci, "Country Concert" by Giorgione, "Madonna of Chancellor Rollin "van Eyck, works by Rubens, Rembrandt, Poussin, Watteau, David, Gericault, Delacroix, Courbet and others. Administratively, the Louvre is subordinated to the so-called Orangery - an exhibition room with a permanent exhibition of Claude Monet's Water Lilies (opened in 1965 in the Orangerie pavilion of the Tuileries Garden) .

Mauritshuis.
The Royal Painting Room at the Mauritshuis Palace in The Hague. Opened in 1820 as a fundamental collection of works of classical Dutch painting (paintings by Averkamp, ​​Beieren, Wauermann, Vermeer, van Goyen, Potter, Ruisdael, Rembrandt, Steen, Terborch, Fabricius and other painters). The Mauritshuis Palace was built in 1633-1635 in the classical style (architects J. van Kampen, P. Post).

Metropolitan Museum.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the largest art collection in the United States and one of the largest in the world. Founded in 1870 on the basis of private collections donated to the museum, opened in 1872. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has departments of American painting and sculpture, ancient art of the Far and Near East, weapons, art of Ancient Egypt, ancient art, Islamic art, European painting, art of the 20th century, engraving and lithography, musical instruments, book and children's museums, institute suit. Among the masterpieces of the pictorial collection are works by ancient Greek vase painters (including Euphronius), paintings by Renaissance masters (Botticelli, Raphael, Tintoretto, Titian, van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Bosch, Brueghel, Dürer, Holbein, etc.), the largest in the world a collection of works by Rembrandt (23 paintings), works by artists of Spain (El Greco, Velasquez, Zurbaran, Goya), Holland (Vermeer, van Gogh), Great Britain (Gainsborough, Turner), France (Poussin, Watteau, Manet, Renoir, Degas). American painting of the 18th and 19th centuries is represented by the works of Copley, Homer, Whistler, Aikins and others. The main building of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York's Central Park was built in 1894-1902 (main building, architect R. M. Hunt) and 1905-1926 (side wings, architectural firm "McKim, Mead and White"). A branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art - the Cloisters Museum of Medieval Art in Fort Tryon Park (opened in 1938).

Museum of the East in Moscow.
The Museum of the East was founded in 1918 on the basis of several large private collections ((P.I. Shchukin, K.F. Nekrasov, V.G. Tardov and other art collectors.), until 1925 it was called "Ars Asiatica" ("Art of Asia "), until 1962 - the Museum of Oriental Cultures, until 1992 - the Museum of Oriental Art. The funds of the Oriental Museum contain works of Oriental decorative and applied art, collections of Chinese painting of the 11th-20th centuries, Indian and Iranian miniatures of the 16th-17th centuries, Japanese engravings of the 18 –19th centuries, etc. Housed in the city estate of the Lunins (1823, architect D.I. Gilardi).

Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.
Museum of Fine Arts, Hungary's most important collection of foreign art. Created in 1896 on the basis of several large private collections, including the private collection of the Esterhazy princes. The Museum of Fine Arts keeps monuments of ancient Egyptian, antique, Byzantine, old Hungarian art, masterpieces of European graphics (drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, Durer, Rembrandt, Watteau, etc.) and painting (paintings by El Greco, Velasquez, Goya, Cranach, Giorgione). The museum building was built in 1900–1906 (architects A. Shikedants, F. Herzog).

Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin.
After the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow is the second largest collection of foreign fine art in Russia. Created on the initiative of Professor I.V. Tsvetaeva on the basis of the Cabinet of Fine Arts of Moscow University as the Museum of Casts; until 1937 it was called the Museum of Fine Arts. Initially, the museum's collection included casts from outstanding works of ancient and Western European sculpture, a unique one compiled by the historian V.S. Golenishchev, a collection of monuments of the art of Ancient Egypt, works of European painting, a valuable collection of antique vases and coins. After 1917, the museum funds were replenished with works of art from the Hermitage, the Tretyakov Gallery, closed museums (Rumyantsev, New Western Art, etc.), a number of private collections. Now the Museum of Fine Arts keeps art monuments of the Ancient East, ancient Greece and Rome, Byzantium, countries of Western and Eastern Europe. In the art gallery of the museum there are works by Rembrandt, Ruisdael, Terborch, Jordaens, Rubens, Poussin, Lorrain, Watteau, David, Corot, Courbe, a rich collection of the Barbizon school, an exceptional collection of paintings by masters of French impressionism (Monet, Degas, Renoir, etc.) .) and post-impressionism (Cezanne, Gauguin, van Gogh). In the department of engraving and drawing there are about 350 thousand works of European oriental and domestic graphics. The museum building in neoclassical style was built in 1898–1912 (architect R.I. Klein).

Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo.
Museum of Muslim Art in Egypt, one of the world's largest museums of medieval art culture of the Arab countries, Iran, Turkey. Founded in 1881, until 1952 it was called the Museum of Arab Art. The museum collection was based on receipts from Cairo mosques, private collections, materials from archaeological excavations. The funds of the Museum of Islamic Art contain the most valuable collections of manuscripts and miniatures of art schools of the Islamic world, ceramics, glass and metal products.

Museum of Art History.
Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the largest in Austria and one of the largest art collections in the world. Created in 1891 on the basis of the collections of the Habsburg Imperial House. It includes oriental and antique collections, the richest collection of Western European art - sculpture, painting (one of the most significant collections of works by Brueghel the Elder, works by Dürer, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Velasquez, Rembrandt, Rubens and many other artists), arts and crafts ( including works by Cellini) and medal art, as well as collections of weapons, musical instruments, carriages. The Museum of Art History includes the Museum of Austrian Culture. The Kunsthistorisches Museum is located in a building built in the spirit of eclecticism in 1872–1882 (architects G. Semper, K. Hasenauer).

Musée d'Orsay.
Museum of Impressionism, 19th century art in Paris. Created in 1980 on the basis of the Museum of Impressionism founded in 1947, the collections of the Louvre and the National Museum of Modern Art. The collection of the museum contains works of French art created from the middle of the 19th century to 1914, including paintings and graphics by Courbet and the masters of impressionism, sculpture by Rodin, objects of decorative and applied art. Located in the building of the former station d "Orsay (1900).

Museum of Ancient Art in Brussels.
The Museum of Ancient Art is part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts founded in 1830 (they also include the Museum of Modern Art and the A. Wirtz Museum). The Museum of Ancient Art houses one of the largest collections of paintings and drawings in Europe from the Old Netherlandish (works by Bouts, Brueghel, van der Goes, David, Peter Aartsen, etc.), Flemish (works by Jordaens, Snyders, Teniers, etc.), and other European schools 15th–18th centuries. The museum building was built in 1875–1885 (architect A. Bala).

National Gallery in London.
The National Gallery is one of the best collections of Western European art in the world. Founded in 1824 from the collection of J. J. Angerstein. Stores collections
European schools of painting, represented by outstanding works of art, including "Madonna in the Rocks" by Leonardo da Vinci, "Portrait of the Arnolfini spouses" by Jan van Eyck, "Venus with a Mirror" by Velazquez, masterpieces by Duccio, Uccello, Piero della Francesca, Giovanni Bellini, Titian, Hans Holbein the Younger, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Hogarth, Goya, Constable, Cezanne, van Gogh and others. Located in a building built in the classicism style in the 1830s (architect W. Wilkins).

National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
The American Gallery of Art, one of the richest art collections in the United States. Created in 1937 as part of the institute, opened in 1941. The basis of the collection of the National Gallery of Art was the large private collections of Mellon, Kress, Rosenwald, Chester, Dale and others. The gallery houses numerous masterpieces of Western European painting and sculpture (works by Raphael, Giorgione, Titian, Donatello , Bernini, Clouet, El Greco, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Rubens, Gainsborough, Manet, Degas, etc.), works by American artists (paintings by Copley, Stuart, etc.), rich collections of graphics and decorative and applied art. The main building of the National Gallery of Art was built in 1939-1940 in neoclassical forms (architects J.R. Pope, O.R. Eggers, D.P. Higgins), the east building - in 1978 (architect Y.M. Pei).

Museum of Capodimonte.
One of the largest art museums in Italy. Founded in 1738. The collection of the museum mainly includes works from the collections of the Farnese princes and Neapolitan kings, including paintings by Simone Martini, Masaccio, Giovanni Bellini, Titian, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, El Greco, the sculpture of Pollaiolo, the best collection of Italian paintings of the 17th century in the country. Located in the former royal palace of Capodimonte (1738, architect G. A. Medrano); The palace interiors also display collections of weapons, furniture, artistic fabrics, coins and medals, European and Oriental ceramics.

National Museum in Warsaw.
The largest art collection in Poland. Founded in 1662, until 1916 it was called the Museum of Fine Arts. It includes monuments of ancient Egyptian, antique, Byzantine art, works of European painting and sculpture of the 15th-20th centuries, a rich collection of Polish art of the 13th-20th centuries, collections of decorative and applied arts, graphics, coins and medals. The building of the National Museum was built in 1926–1938 in the neoclassical style (architect T. Tolvinsky).

National Museum in Krakow.
National Museum, one of the largest art museums in Poland. Founded in 1879. The collection of the National Museum includes works of Polish fine and decorative art of the 14th-20th centuries, collections of European and Far Eastern paintings and graphics, decorative arts, coins and medals. The museum building was built in 1936-1950. In the branch of the National Museum, the Czartoryski Museum (founded in the second half of the 18th century) there is a collection of Eastern and European art, including Leonardo da Vinci's Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine.

National Museum in Stockholm.
The largest art museum in Sweden was founded in 1792. In an extensive collection of paintings, graphics, sculptures of the main European schools, Rembrandt's "The Conspiracy of Julius Civilis" stands out, paintings by El Greco, Chardin, Goya, Renoir, Cezanne, paintings by painters from Sweden (including Larson, Roslin, Zorn) and other Scandinavian countries, Russian iconography and painting. The museum building was built in neo-Renaissance forms in 1850–1856 (architect A.F. Stüler).

Pinacoteca Brera.
Brera Gallery in Milan, one of the largest art galleries in Italy. Founded in 1809. Includes a collection of Italian paintings of the 14th-19th centuries (paintings by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Mantegna, Piero della Francesca, Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, Raphael, Tintoretto, Caravaggio), a gallery of Lombard frescoes of the 15th-16th centuries, as well as a collection of European paintings of the 15th-17th centuries. Located in the Baroque Palazzo Brera (1651, architect F. Rikini).

Pitty.
Art Museum in Florence, located in the palazzo of the same name (built from 1440, possibly by F. Brunelleschi; expanded in the 17th-18th centuries). A significant part of the premises of the palazzo is occupied by an art gallery (the so-called Palatine), which is based on a collection of the Medici family; The gallery was opened to the public in 1828 and in 1911 received the status of a state museum. The gallery contains mainly works of Italian schools of the 15th-17th centuries, as well as Flemish painting of the 17th century. The palazzo also houses the Modern Art Gallery and the Silver Museum.

Prado.
The Prado National Museum of Painting and Sculpture in Madrid, one of the largest art museums in the world. Founded in 1819 on the basis of the royal collections. Contains the richest collection of Spanish paintings of the 15th-16th centuries (works by El Greco, Ribera, Zurbaran, Velasquez, Murillo, Goya, etc.), collections of paintings by Italian masters of the 16th century (Raphael, del Sarto, Titian), artists of the Dutch school of the 15th-16th centuries (Rogier van der Weyden, Hieronymus Bosch), the Flemish and French schools. The museum building is an outstanding monument of late Spanish classicism (1785–1830, architect J. de Villanueva).

Rijksmuseum.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is one of the largest art museums in the Netherlands. Founded in 1808. The collection of the State Museum contains works of Dutch painting of the 15th-19th centuries (including such masterpieces of Dutch masters of the 17th century as Rembrandt's "Night Watch", Vermeer's "Servant with a Jug of Milk", Ruisdael's landscapes, etc.), Dutch graphics, sculpture, works of arts and crafts, painting of other European schools, art of Asian countries. The Neo-Gothic building of the State Museum was built in 1877-1885 (architect P.J. Kuipers).

Uffizi.
The Uffizi Art Gallery in Florence is one of the largest in Italy. Housed in a building built for government offices (1560–1585, architects G. Vasari and B. Buontalenti). Founded in 1575 on the basis of the collections of the Medici family. The gallery keeps the world's richest collection of Italian paintings of the 13th-18th centuries (works by Duccio, Giotto, Uccello, Piero della Francesca, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, etc.), works of ancient art, most schools of European painting, a unique selection of self-portraits European artists.

Hermitage Museum.
The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, one of the largest art and cultural-historical museums in the world. Founded in 1764 by Empress Catherine II; the main part of the collection is located in 5 interconnected buildings on the Palace Embankment - the Winter Palace (Baroque, 1754–1764, architect V.V. Rastrelli), the Small Hermitage (early classicism, 1764–1767, architect J.B.M. Wallen- Delamotte), the Old Hermitage (early classicism, 1771–1787, architect Yu.M. Felten), the New Hermitage (late classicism, 1839–1852, architect L. von Klenze) and the Hermitage Theater (classicism, 1783–1787, architect J. Quarenghi), as well as in the Menshikov Palace on Vasilyevsky Island (early baroque, 1710–1727, architects J. M. Fontana, G. I. Shedel and others). The collection of the Hermitage is based on the collections of the Russian imperial house, which in the 18th and early 20th centuries were constantly replenished through the purchase of valuable foreign collections, the receipt of materials from archaeological excavations; after 1917, the nationalized collections of the Stroganovs, Yusupovs, Shuvalovs and others entered the Hermitage. Today, the Hermitage houses the richest collections of monuments of ancient artistic culture, Oriental art, European fine and decorative arts (including paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Giorgione, Velazquez, Murillo, Rembrandt, Hals, van Dyck, Rubens, Holbein , Cranach, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Poussin, Watteau, Ingres, Delacroix, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Gauguin and many others, sculpture by Michelangelo, Houdon, Rodin and other masters).

220 years ago, in November 1793, the most visited and one of the largest art museums in the world, the Louvre, opened to the general public. In honor of this event, we talk about it and other most popular museums in the world.

1. Louvre, France.

This central landmark of Paris, located on the right bank of the River Seine, is visited annually by about 9.5 million people. Before becoming a museum, the Louvre was a fortress and palace of the French kings. However, during the French Revolution, the National Constituent Assembly decided that the Louvre would be used as a museum where national masterpieces would be exhibited.

So, in 1793 the museum was opened to the general public with a collection of 537 paintings. Under Napoleon, the Louvre was renamed the Musée Napoleone, and its art collection was enlarged. However, the collection has been steadily growing ever since. And in 1989, the palace acquired an unusual architectural element - a glass pyramid, which today is the main entrance to the museum. It was designed by Chinese architect Yo Ming Pei.

The appearance of this pyramid in front of a medieval building shocked many people and caused violent criticism, however, despite this, the pyramid was destined to become part of the architectural ensemble of the Louvre and one of the symbols of Paris. Today, the museum's collection consists of more than 350 thousand objects and works of art, which were created in the period from ancient times to the first half of the 19th century. The main attractions of the Louvre are the painting by Leonardo da Vinci "Mona Lisa", as well as the sculptures "Venus de Milo" and "Nike of Samothrace".

Sculpture "Nike of Samothrace". Photo credit: Thomas Ulrich .

2. Metropolitan Museum, USA.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, located in New York City, is the largest art museum in the United States with the largest collection of art in the world. Every year it is visited by about 6 million visitors.

Metropolitan Museum. Author of the photo: Arad Mojtahedi.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens. Among them were entrepreneurs and financiers, as well as leading artists and thinkers of the time, who wanted to open a museum to introduce art to the American people. The museum opened on February 20, 1872 and today occupies about 190 thousand m².

The museum's main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park, is one of the world's largest art galleries, while a smaller building in Upper Manhattan displays medieval art. The permanent collection of the museum contains works of art that were created in the period from antiquity to the present day. There you can see paintings and sculptures by almost all European masters, such as Botticelli, Rembrandt, Degas, Rodin and others, as well as get acquainted with an extensive collection of modern art.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is home to collections of musical instruments, period costumes, accessories and weapons from around the world. By the way, one of the many impressive masterpieces of the museum is the copper engraving "Adam and Eve" by Albrecht Dürer.

Engraving "Adam and Eve".
3. British Museum, UK.

This museum is located in London and it is dedicated to the history and culture of mankind. Its permanent collection of about 8 million items is one of the largest and most complete. About 5.5 million people visit the museum every year. Entrance to this museum is free.

The British Museum was established in 1753 and was formed primarily from the collections of its founder, physician and scientist Hans Sloan. The museum was opened to the public on January 15, 1759 at Montagu House, an aristocratic mansion located in the London Borough of Bloomsbury, where it remains today.

The largest museum in the UK exhibits archaeological and ethnographic collections, which number more than eight million objects. And the Museum's Egyptian Gallery boasts the world's second-best collection of Egyptian antiquities, including, for example, the Rosetta Stone with a thank you inscription carved on it in 196 BC. The Egyptian priests addressed this inscription to Ptolemy V Epiphanes, a monarch from the Ptolemaic dynasty.

4. Tate Modern, UK.

This gallery is located in London and is the most popular contemporary art gallery in the world. , because every year it is visited by about 5.3 million people.

The Tate Modern is housed in a former power plant on the south bank of the River Thames in Battersea, which was built between 1947 and 1963. Today, the gallery building in its appearance still resembles a 20th-century factory, both outside and inside. So when you enter the gallery space, you are greeted with dark gray walls, steel beams and concrete floors. The collections at the Tate Modern consist of works of contemporary art created from 1900 to the present day. The gallery building has 7 floors, numbered from 0 to 6. Moreover, each floor is divided into 4 wings, which correspond to certain topics or subjects.

So, for example, in 2012, exhibits on the following topics were presented on different floors. The Poetry and Dreams wing focuses on Surrealism, the Structure and Clarity wing focuses on abstract art, the Transformed Vision wing focuses on Expressionism, and the Energy and Process wing focuses on the arte povera movement and features works by artists such as Alighiero Boetti, Giannis Kounellis, Kazimir Malevich, Ana Mendieta and Mario Merz.

5. London National Gallery, UK.

It is located in Trafalgar Square and is visited annually by about 5 million people.

Unlike other major museums in continental Europe, the National Gallery was not formed through nationalization, that is, the transfer of the royal collection of art to the state. It came about when, in 1824, the British government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of John Angerstein, an insurance broker and patron of the arts. After this acquisition, the gallery was replenished only by its directors, in particular the artist Charles Eastlake, and thanks to private donations, which make up two-thirds of the collection. Today the gallery is owned by the UK society and is therefore free to enter. Previously, the National Gallery in London had a permanent exhibition, but today it is constantly changing.

6. Vatican Museums.

The Vatican Museums have a huge collection of exhibits collected by the Roman Catholic Church over several centuries. About 5 million people visit museums every year.

The Vatican Museums have 22 separate art collections. And perhaps the most famous of them is kept in the Pius Clementine Museum, which displays magnificent classical sculptures. The Pinacoteca Brera (art gallery) houses medieval and renaissance masterpieces. The Gregorian Egyptian Museum contains ancient Egyptian exhibits, and the Gregorian Etruscan Museum contains numerous Etruscan household items. But, of course, the main attractions of the Vatican Museums are the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, and the stanzas of Raphael.

Raphael Stations.

7. Museum of the Imperial Palace, Taiwan.
This one of the national museums of the Republic of China has a permanent collection of approximately 696,000 ancient Chinese artifacts and works of art. The collection tells more than 8,000 years of Chinese history from the Neolithic to the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). Most of the collection was formed by the emperors of China.

The Imperial Palace Museum is located in Taiwan's capital, Taipei, and is visited by about 4.4 million people annually. The main attractions of the museum are painting and calligraphy, as well as rare books, the number of which in the museum reaches 200 thousand volumes.

8. National Gallery of Art, USA.
This Washington, DC, gallery is visited by about 4.2 million people annually. It was founded in 1937 by the decision of the US Congress. A large collection of art objects, as well as funds for the construction of the gallery, was donated by the American banker and billionaire Andrew William Mellon.

Paintings, drawings, engravings, photographs, sculptures, medals, as well as arts and crafts tell gallery visitors about the development of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present day. In the National Gallery of Art, you can see the only painting in America by Leonardo da Vinci, as well as the world's largest mobile (kinetic sculpture) ever created by American sculptor Alexander Calder.

Portrait of Ginevra de Benci.

9. Center Pompidou, France. The Georges Pompidou National Center for Arts and Culture is a high-tech cultural center in the Beaubourg quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris. About 3.8 million people visit the Pompidou Center every year.

The center is named after Georges Pompidou, president who served from 1969 to 1974. He ordered the construction of this cultural center. The Pompidou Center officially opened on January 31, 1977. Today it houses a huge public library, the State Museum of Modern Art, which is the largest contemporary art museum in Europe, and the Institute for the Study and Coordination of Acoustics and Music (IRCAM). Interestingly, according to the project of the architect, Alexander Calder's mobile was installed in front of the center building, the height of which is 7.62 meters.

10. Musee d'Orsay, France.
This museum, located on the left bank of the Seine River in Paris, is visited annually by about 3.6 million people.

It was created in a former railway station built in the Beaux Arts (eclectic style) between 1898 and 1900. By 1939, the station's short platforms became unsuitable for the large trains that then appeared, so the station was used only for suburban trains. Subsequently, the railway station was used only as a filming location for films, such as, for example, Orson Welles' "The Trial", based on the novel of the same name by Franz Kafka.

Main hall of the Musée d'Orsay. Photo credit: Benh Lieu Song .

And in 1970, it was decided to demolish the station, but Jacques Duhamel, the Minister of Culture, was against this, and the station added to the list of historical monuments of France. A few years later, a proposal was made to make a museum in the station building. And in the end, in July 1986, the museum was ready to receive exhibits. Another 6 months passed, and in December 1986 the doors of the museum opened to receive visitors.
Today, the museum displays mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915. It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works in the world, including artists such as Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne and Van Gogh.

I present to you the most famous and greatest museums in the world. If you are close to these museums, be sure to check it out. You will be impressed by what you see.

In the first place of such a list will definitely be the 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 the modernization of 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 the works 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.

Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

This gigantic museum has the largest collection of paintings in the world. It is a stunning place that illuminates the history of the world from the Stone Age to the present, and especially impressive is the Golden Room with its amazing gems. The Hermitage Museum is the most visited in Russia. It is scenically located along the waterfront area in the Center of St. Petersburg. This is a whole museum complex, which includes six different buildings of unique architectural design. Without a doubt, Emitazh is one of the greatest museums in the world, an outstanding landmark of St. Petersburg.

British Museum in London.

Here are collected millions of works of art from all over the world. The galleries of the British Museum are dedicated to Egypt, Greece, Roman civilization, Asia, Africa and medieval Europe, tracing human history and culture. It houses the Parthenon marble that once adorned the Parthenon in Athens. The museum attracts six million visitors every year. If you can't get 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 can see in the photo below:

Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

In the Egyptian Museum of Cairo you will find the most complete collection of Egyptian art in the world. Among the thousands of treasures are also famous exhibits from the tomb of Tutankhamun. In 1835, the Egyptian government established the "Egyptian Antiquities Service" in an attempt to stop the looting of archaeological sites and to organize an exhibition of the artifacts collected. The Egyptian Museum was built in 1900 and now houses more than 120,000 objects from the prehistoric era to the Greco-Roman period, including the ancient sculptures of the Sphinx. If you are exploring the sights of Egypt, then you should not miss the Egyptian Museum of Cairo.

Uffizi Gallery in Florence

UNESCO estimates that 60% of the most popular artworks in the world are located in Italy, and more than half of them are located in Florence. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence will amaze you to the core. It is definitely one of the finest collections of paintings and sculptures 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 the Birth of Venus Botticelli.

Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Created 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 will 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 Met is one of the most significant. This is truly one of the greatest museums in the world.

State Museum in Amsterdam

The Rijksmuseum is located near the center of Amsterdam. This is one of the greatest museums and definitely worth a visit during a trip to one of the most beautiful European capitals. The museum overlooks one of the iconic water channels of Amsterdam, while on the opposite side there is a spacious panoramic square with a green picturesque lawn. Inside, you can fully immerse yourself in the art and history of the Netherlands. With a collection of nearly 1 million items, this is the perfect place to indulge in the inspiring masterpieces of Rembrandt, Frans Hals and other Dutch artists. Read more about it in the selection of the best museums in Amsterdam.

Vatican Museum

The impressive Vatican Museum contains 22 separate collections, ranging from Etruscan and Egyptian art to maps and contemporary religious art. Even if you are not religious, you will still be impressed by the sheer beauty and splendor of Michelangelo's dome and Bernini's spiral columns. The main values ​​here are the renovated Sistine Chapel and the Raphael Rooms.

Hello dear guys! And to you, dear adults, also a big and warm hello!

Probably each of you at least once was in the museum. Every day around the world, thousands of tourists line up in long lines to see works of science and art, visit various exhibitions and then exchange their impressions of what they saw.

Many of the cultural attractions are known for their fame around the planet. Do you know those - those where any traveler would like to go?

I propose to recall the most famous museums in the world, scattered across different countries, so that when you are going on a long journey, you can plan a visit to them in your excursion program. Well, right now, so that you can talk about them in an interesting and exciting way in class.

So, the top ten of the most famous of the well-known, according to the ShkolaLa blog.

Lesson plan:

Paris Louvre

Once a medieval fortress, and then the residence of the French kings, it opened to visitors in 1793. 160106 square meters of the total area occupied, more than 400 thousand exhibits presented - all this is about the great and bewitching Louvre!

Its centrally located glass pyramid attracts about 9.5 million visitors every year and becomes a photographic attraction as one of the symbols of Paris. This is the place where one of the world's artistic mysteries is located - da Vinci's painting "Mona Lisa".

Today, the Louvre has seven huge departments, in which it is possible, as they say, to examine in detail the exhibition items in just a week, no less. Here are present:

• department of applied arts;
• halls of painting, graphics and sculpture;
• the art of Ancient Egypt and the Ancient East;
• Islamic and Greek departments;
• Roman hall;
• and culture of the Etruscan Empire.

Vatican Museums in Rome

The exhibition complex has 1,400 halls and 50,000 objects are located in them. Get ready to walk about 7 kilometers to see all the exhibits.

The heart of the Vatican Museum is the Sistine Chapel, a renaissance monument whose walls were painted by Michelangelo. You can reach it only by overcoming the entire museum corridor.

The construction of the Italian museum began as early as the 4th century - then the first stones of St. Peter's Church were laid, only in the 9th century did the walls appear, and by the 13th century they lined up in the papal Vatican residence. Every year, about 5 million visitors come here to see with their own eyes the treasures collected by Roman Catholics over several centuries.

British Museum in London

The exhibition center, which opened in 1759, has a rather complicated history, and there are dark spots in the description. It is called not only a museum of all civilizations, but also a repository of stolen masterpieces.

This is the place where the cultural objects of Egypt, Greece, Rome, Asia and Africa, as well as medieval Europe are located. Only now, many of the 8 million exhibits appeared in the British Museum in a far from honest way. So, the ancient Egyptian Rosetta stone, however, like some other assets from Egypt, came here after being taken from Napoleon's army.

From Greece, with the strange permission of the Turkish ruler, precious sculptural expositions were taken to London.

By the way, admission to the British Museum is absolutely free.

Japanese National Museum in Tokyo

Dedicated to nature and science, it differs in that, along with the wonders of technology, there are stuffed animals, found remains of dinosaurs and their models.

Here, on the roof of a six-story building, you will find a botanical garden with sun umbrellas that automatically open when approached. There is a "forest hall" where you can wander among the rich flora.

In the global gallery you can follow the evolution of all life on Earth and get acquainted with modern technologies, and in the Japanese gallery you can learn historical facts about the land of the rising sun.

And this museum is also included in the list of famous places, because visitors can become scientists for a moment and personally conduct a series of experiments.

American Metropolitan

This museum is located in New York and is rightfully one of the most famous. Judge for yourself: Paleolithic artifacts are collected here, which are adjacent to modern exhibits from the field of pop art, there are cultural objects from Africa, the East and Europe, paintings from the 12th to the 19th centuries, musical instruments, weapons and clothing of the peoples of five continents.

The museum appeared thanks to a group of entrepreneurs, public figures and artists who donated their collections to it, and they were replenished with two million exhibition items. In general, there is something to see here!

The area of ​​the cultural heritage of America is divided by luxurious passages and stairs that combine buildings from different times with tall columns, fountains and stained glass windows. Moreover, its name has nothing to do with underground transport, but is derived from the word "metropolis", that is, "big city".

Madrid Prado Museum

The Spanish Cultural Center of Painting has collected more than 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 8,000 drawings, 1,300 pieces of art under one roof. It got its name from the park of the same name in which it is located.

Although there are no elegant interiors and gilded staircases, the museum has a huge number of collections of paintings from different European schools: Spanish, Italian, German, British, most of which were collected by the church and representatives of the royal family.

By the way, there is a copy of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, drawn by a student of Leonardo da Vinci.

Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

The main state museum of Holland is located in an old palace with towers and relief sculptures and is divided into 200 rooms, where many masterpieces of Dutch and world art are located. The red brick building stands on the canal embankment and stretches for an entire block.

The main masterpiece of the Amsterdam Museum is Rembrandt's painting "The Night Watch".

There are also canvases by artists of the Golden Age. And the exhibition halls abound with various antique gizmos from antique furniture to porcelain tableware.

Petersburg Hermitage

Russia, too, can rightfully enter the list and boast of a museum heritage known throughout the world. The Russian cultural giant is famous for the world's largest collection of paintings. Here you can get acquainted with the history from the Stone Age to the present, and the Golden Room is a separate story, because the treasures of the Russian Empire and not only are collected there!

The Hermitage originates from the collection of Empress Catherine II and, having subsequently expanded, today it is a museum complex of six buildings, where more than 3 million exhibits are presented.

Cairo Museum

This cultural site was until recently famous for its complete collection of Egyptian art, which contains thousands of treasures from the tombs of Tutankhamen.

Before the revolution in Egypt, the Cairo Museum had more than 120,000 ancient exhibits, including monumental sculptures of the Sphinx of the ancient period, tombs and mummies of Egyptian pharaohs, and jewelry of queens.

One can only hope that the Egyptian nation will be able to preserve its heritage.

Archaeological Museum in Athens

This is the largest cultural center in Greece, which houses exhibits from different eras, but the collections of ceramics and sculpture are on the list of the richest in the world.

The diverse collections of the museum include finds as far back as 6800 BC, among which are clay, stone and bone vessels, weapons, jewelry and tools.

Various museum items

Today we have compiled a list of ten famous museums in the world located in different countries, which are on everyone's lips. But there are museums in the world that few people know about, but which it would be worth knowing about, because they are very unusual. The video below shows some of them.

I hope the information presented in the article will help you in the development of your research projects.

Good luck with your studies!

Evgenia Klimkovich.