10 virtual tours of museums around the world - from the Hermitage to the Louvre

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

If by the end of the New Year's holidays you are drawn to beauty, you do not have to get up from the couch (you have not been drawn to sports yet!). Thanks to modern technologies, you can walk through the best museums in the world using a computer or laptop, and we have selected the most interesting routes and places for you.

1. Tretyakov Gallery

The Tretyakov Gallery is one of the main symbols of Moscow. Museum, which was founded back in 1856 by Pavel Tretyakov. Here in the permanent exhibition - the golden fund of Russian painting: icons, Repin, Surikov, Vasnetsov, Malevich and Kandinsky.

When you don't have the opportunity to stroll through the capital's museum, the Arts and culture website, developed by Google, will do the impossible for you - it will take you to the Tretyakov Gallery through any distance.

You can see it here."Boyaryn Morozov" by Surikov, "The Abduction of Europa" by Serov, "Horsewoman" by Bryullov and "Portrait of Pushkin" by Kiprensky. In order not to wander through the halls in search of these paintings, you can find them on the Arts and culture website in the Tretyakov Gallery. Collections ". Also, be sure to see halls # 7 (here you will see several well-known masterpieces by Vasnetsov: "Heroes", "Alyonushka" and "Ivan Tsarevich on the Gray Wolf"), # 12 (here hangs Ivanov's huge canvas "The Appearance of Christ to the People"), # 18 (in this room there are such famous paintings by Perov as "Hunters at Rest" and "Troika").

What else to see. On the website of the Tretyakov Gallery itself, in the virtual exhibitions section, there are many excellent selections. There is, for example, "Aivazovsky close-up". By going to the exhibition page, you can learn the history of Aivazovsky's paintings, examine them in detail, find out what is hidden under the layer of paints. In addition, the projects "Lessons of Serov" and "Lessons of Kuindzhi" are available - these are fascinating and very beautifully made educational portals for the interactive study of the work of artists. It is better to use the Google Chrome browser for viewing, since not all other browsers can open these pages.

2. Hermitage

The Hermitage is the second largest art museum in the world. It is located in St. Petersburg and, of course, is rightfully considered its trademark.

If you want to take a virtual walk through it, there are two options: either do it using the Hermitage website, or using the same Arts and culture. It seems to us that the second application is more convenient for walking, since on it you can zoom in on the paintings and examine them up close, and also use the panel below to choose which room you want to move to now.

What can you see. There are many world masterpieces here. Be sure to check out The Return of the Prodigal Son and Saskia as Flora by Rembrandt, The Penitent Magdalene by Titian and Breakfast by Diego Velazquez. Look in the collections that are given in the Arts and culture appendix below the panorama.

3. State Russian Museum

Like the Hermitage, the Russian Museum is located in St. Petersburg. It was founded in 1895 and has the world's largest collection of Russian paintings.

There is Bryullov's "The Last Day of Pompeii", Fedotov's "The Courtship of a Major", Ivanov's "Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection", and Kustodiev's "Merchant's Wife at Tea" and much more. To see all these paintings, go to Arts and culture again. For a convenient search below, under the panorama, there are icons of different halls, you can exit the panorama and quickly select a new hall that you like.

What can you see. Look for Aivazovsky's "Ninth Wave", Repin's "Burlakov on the Volga" and Ge's "Last Supper".

4. Orsay Museum

Musée d'Orsay or d'Orsay is a Parisian museum located on the left bank of the Seine. It contains one of the world's largest collections of European paintings and sculptures from the mid-19th - early 20th centuries. Basically, these are collections of impressionists and post-impressionists. The history of the museum is very interesting: it used to be a train station for Paris-Orleans trains. By 1939, they had practically ceased to be used. At first they wanted to demolish the building, and then they decided to turn it into a museum. This is how the Orsay Museum was born - the tenth most popular in the world.

There are such famous paintings as "Starry Night" by Van Gogh (35 halls, upper level), Circus by Georges Seurat (45 halls on the upper level) and “Breakfast on the Grass” by Edouard Monet (29 rooms, upper level). You should definitely see these pictures, at least, because they are known at the most, because they are very beautiful.

What can you see. Among other things, there is a chance to see "Self-portrait" and "Bedroom in Arles" by Van Gogh, "Family Portrait" by Edgar Degas and "Ball at the Moulin de la Galette".

5. Museum of Fine Arts in Houston

This museum is one of the largest in the United States and the largest in Texas. It is interesting because it consists of two buildings connected by an underground passage. The museum's collection contains about 63 thousand exhibits. In addition to two buildings, the museum complex also includes the beautiful sculpture garden of Lilly and Hugh Roy Cullen and the Bayou Bend gardens.

What can you see. Here you can see Van der Weyden's Madonna and Child, Hans Memling's Portrait of an Old Woman and Veneto's Portrait of a Man. There are also paintings by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Degas and Renoir. Most of the exhibition is paintings by Renaissance masters and French impressionists. There are also many halls dedicated to ancient art.

Use Arts and culture to explore the museum.

What else to see. Once you've taken the time to wander around the Houston Museum, you can't leave without seeing Water Lilies by Claude Monet. You must not pass by this talk of the town. Walking through Arts and culture, you will definitely notice the painting, as it stands out from the others. Also don't miss Gustave Caillebotte's Orange Trees. A very atmospheric painting with a summer landscape and French people relaxing and Bouguereau's "Big Sister". This is a painting by a French artist donated to the Houston Museum as an anonymous gift. A beautiful work of one of the most famous realist painters of the 19th century, executed in an academic style.

6. London National Gallery

All the previous museums, which we talked about above, are in some ways the best. The National Gallery is not inferior to them: it is the third most visited art museum in the world. It is located on Trafalgar Square and contains about 2000 paintings by Western European artists of the 13th – 20th centuries. With the help of Google you can see "Venus with a Mirror" by Diego Velazquez, "The Holy Family with a Shepherd" by Titian (hall 12). By the way, there are a lot of works by the latter: "Bacchus and Ariadne", "Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and St. Catherine", "Death of Actaeon".

You can see it here. The gallery is also famous for its large collection of works by Rembrandt. If you are a fan of his work or are just going to become one, pay your attention to the paintings: "Equestrian portrait of Frederic Richel" and "Hendrickje in a fur cape." The clothes of the heroes are very well written on them. Also look at Van Gogh's works: "Sunflowers", which are very common in school notebooks, and "Wheat Field with Cypresses."

7. Uffizi Gallery

One of the most visited and one of the oldest museums in the world. Here you can find paintings and sculptures by artists of the Middle Ages, and you can also find works of modern masters. The building of the gallery is very old, it was built in the 60s of the 16th century, when the architect Giorgio Vasari was commissioned to erect a luxurious and rich building on the banks of the Arno River. Now it houses the Madonna with a Goldfinch by Raphael Santi, and Venus of Urbino by Titian (hall 28), and the Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci (hall 15).

You can see it here. Be sure to look at the well-known painting "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli (hall 10/14). It is simply impossible to visit the Uffizi and not see the paintings of the most famous Italian painter! Also, admire the painting by Filippo Lippi, another Proto-Renaissance Italian artist, Madonna and Child with Two Angels. It will not be difficult to find it: if you look at all the possible halls, links to which are given in the application under the maps, you will see it in the photo of one of them.

8. Versailles

Versailles has been the seat of French kings for many years. This palace and park ensemble, located in the suburbs of Paris, attracts tourists from all over the world with its architecture and paintings. You probably read about him in Dumas and Pikul. Now you have the opportunity to see it with your own eyes. There are many paintings here that you may be hearing about for the first time, but they are beautiful and important to the story. For example, "The Queen of Persia at the feet of Alexander" by Charles Le Brun or the painting on the ceiling by François Lemoine "The Apotheosis of Hercules". Versailles is generally famous for its vaults and ceilings, on which real masterpieces are painted.

You can see it here. In addition, we advise you to look at the interiors of all rooms in Arts and culture and we recommend that you pay attention to the collection of portraits of the royal family. These are “Philip, Duke of Orleans, nicknamed Monsieur” by Antoine Mathieu, and “Count Daru, quartermaster general of imperial palaces” by Antoine Jean Gros, and his “Napoleon after the Battle of Marengo”. This collection of paintings is considered one of the finest in the entire world.

9. Art gallery of Sanssouci in Potsdam

It would be ugly to ignore such a forge of artists as Germany. Of course, the first step would be to write about the Dresden Gallery, but, unfortunately, there are no virtual tours of it on Arts and culture or anywhere else. Therefore, we will tell you about another good German museum - the Sanssouci gallery. It was built in the 18th century under King Frederick the Great.

During the Second World War, many of the paintings passed to the Soviet Union, as they were temporarily in the GDR, some of them Russia still refuses to return to Germany. In any case, the museum now has paintings by artists such as Caravaggio, Van Dyck and Rubens.

You can see it here. Of course, look at the paintings by Peter Paul Rubens that have not been lost. For example, "Four Evangelists" is a well-known and masterly written work. Also be sure to look for paintings by Van Dyck. Among them, the work "Savior of the World" stands out.

10. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston

This may be the first time in your life that you hear about this museum, but that does not make it any less beautiful. The refined style in which the entire building is decorated, and the beautiful paintings suggest that this gallery is definitely a must visit. And here again Arts and culture will help you. This private art gallery is housed in a Venetian palazzo-style building in Boston. At the beginning of the 20th century, the museum was founded by the philanthropist Isabella Stuart Garden. She has collected here 2500 European paintings from different times. Among them are Titian's paintings "The Rape of Europa", "Altar of the Colonna family" by Raphael. There are also many works by American artists of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Interestingly, in 1990, the largest robbery in US history took place here. Thirty exhibits were taken out of the museum. Among them are works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet and Degas. The paintings have not yet been found, and empty frames still hang in their old place.

You can see it here. To better understand the creator of the gallery, check out her portrait "Isabella Stuart Garden in Venice". From the classics, be sure to find "Madonna and Child with Two Angels" by Sandro Botticelli, "Portrait of Tommaso Ingiri" and "Self-portrait" by Rembrandt. For 20th century American artists, check out Ralph Curtis. For example, "Return from Lido".