A unique opportunity to travel in time and space is provided by museums where exhibits of various national cultures are collected, created by the hands of both modern masters and famous ancestors. The topic of the article is the most famous and great museums of the world that you should visit.
general review
What criteria are taken 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 the third and fourth lines of the rating, respectively. Each of them exceeded the attendance threshold of 6 million.
- Footprint. The Louvre is again the leader here, although officially it is assigned the third position (160 thousand square meters). Formally, it is ahead, for example, of the Art Museum of Japan (Tokyo), but the Louvre exhibition area is the most impressive (58 thousand square meters).
- The greatest museums in the world are determined by the number of exhibits and their historical value.
- Another criterion is the choice of travelers. Every year, the Traveler's Choice contest is held, which has the nomination “Museums of the World”. In 2016, the Metropolitan Museum of Art led the rating, and the top ten included the Chicago Art Institute, the Hermitage (third position) and the very young Museum on September 11 (USA), opened in 2013. His exposition is dedicated to the tragic events in New York.
The greatest museums in the world: Louvre Museum (France)
Before becoming a museum, the Louvre was a fortress, and then the residence of the kings of France. His expositions were presented to the public in 1793, during the time of the Great Bourgeois Revolution. The unique collection was formed by King Francis I and constantly replenished. In its treasures today there are more than 300 thousand exhibits, 35 thousand of which are simultaneously exhibited for visitors: from Egyptian and Phoenician antiquities to modern sculptures and jewelry.
The most valuable works of art are statues of Venus of Milos and Nika of Samothrace, paintings of Titian, Delacroix and the great Rembrandt. Art lovers come to see the masterpiece of the outstanding Renaissance master Leonard da Vinci - “Mona Lisa”. In 1911, the canvas was stolen by the Italian Perugia, but returned after 27 months after lengthy negotiations with Italy. All the greatest museums in the world ensure the safety of paintings. "Mona Lisa" is the only exhibit not insured by the state, for it is considered priceless.
Today the museum, located on Rivoli street 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 was built in the form of a glass pyramid, which allowed to triple the number of visitors.
British Museum (London)
The date of its foundation (1753th) is impressive. The collection was launched by the physician Hans Sloan, a collector of ancient manuscripts, books, plants and medals. Today it is the largest historical and archaeological repository of Great Britain, where about 13 million exhibits are collected. They are located in 100 galleries on a territorial-chronological basis. The pearls of the exposition are the Parthenon marbles attributed to the Greek sculptor Phidias, the Rosetta stone, which allowed to decipher the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, a piece of the beard of the Great Sphinx from Giza. The greatest museums in the world have formed rich collections due to the robbery of colonial countries.
In the XIX century, the old building was demolished, and in its place the architect Robert Smike built a unique building in the neoclassical style. Located in the Bloomsbury area, in the 20th century it underwent a redevelopment (Foster project), acquiring a modern look. A 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 due to the high density of exhibits per unit area. The entire Vatican is located only half a square kilometer, while the museum’s fund is 50 thousand paintings, sculptures and jewelry. All the greatest museums in the world (photos are presented in the article) have unique features.
The main shrine of this is the Sistine Chapel, where the Pope has been elected since the 15th century. Painted with frescoes of the great Michelangelo, it is the crown of the creation of human hands. To get there you must go through dozens of museum halls, enjoying the splendor of the Catholic churches, tombs and paintings of Raphael and other artists.
A small state itself can be considered as a single museum of architectural monuments, the construction of which began in the XIV century.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (USA)
The New York Museum ranks first among Traveler's Choice winners, although it was founded in a later period - in 1870. It began with private collections donated to the state and exhibited at the premises of the dance school. At the turn of the century, the architect Hyde built the main building, and a little later, the lateral wings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, representing a number of buildings of different times. They are connected by stairs and passages, storing 3 million works of art. Here the largest collection of Rembrandt’s works is collected, the Costume Institute is created.
Not all of the greatest museums in the world described in the article can boast of 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
Painting of the great Spaniards is presented in Madrid. The National Museum was founded in 1785 and collected large-scale collections of paintings by Goya, Velazquez, Zurbaran and El Greco. There are also works by great Italian and Flemish masters, samples of ancient coins, jewelry and porcelain. Since 1819, the museum has been housed in the current building, made in the style of classicism (architect Villanueva), and is open to visitors. On an area of 58 thousand square meters. 1300 works were exhibited, and the rest (more than 20 thousand) are stored in storage.
The greatest museums in the world often have branches. The contemporary art of the Prado is represented in the Villahermosa Palace. A feature of the Spanish Museum is the restrained elegance of buildings, in contrast to the Louvre and the Hermitage, which we dwell on below.
