Museums of the world

Mauritshuis in The Hague, Netherlands
Known as the Royal Picture Gallery of the Netherlands, Mauritshuis houses a rare collection of Golden Age paintings from countless Dutch and Flemish artisans. In 1816, King William I offered the collections once owned by his father, stadtholder Prince William V, to the Dutch state, establishing the first national gallery in The Hague. The Mauritshuis’s 841 works of art include Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Carel Fabritius’ The Goldfinch.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
The beginnings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art date back as far as 1866 in Paris, France, where a group of Americans discussed the need to bring art education to the public. On April 13, 1870, the Met opened within the historic Dodworth Building before moving to its permanent location on Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street in 1880.

The museum presents over 5,000 years of artwork, including Islamic art dating back to the seventh century and the well-known Edgar Degas’ painting The Dance Class.

Tate Modern in London
The birth of Tate Modern began in 1889 when Henry Tate, a British industrialist, donated his collection of British 19th-century art and provided funding for the first Tate Gallery. A century later, the Tate Trustees announced the development of an international modern and contemporary art gallery.

Located within the former Bankside Power Station, the gallery showcases groundbreaking works including Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol and N**e Woman with Necklace by Pablo Picasso.

National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa
When the National Gallery of Canada was established in 1880, the first exhibition primarily consisted of 19th-century works at the historic Clarendon Hotel in Ottawa. Over 140 years later, a 30-foot bronze spider called the Maman greets visitors at the gallery’s new home designed by architect Moshe Safdie.

The national art museum now houses 75,000 works of art ranging from Canadian and Indigenous pieces to the neoclassicist painting The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West.

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town
With the help of design firm Heatherwick Studio, the once-magnolia-yellow, century-old grain silo complex in the heart of Cape Town transformed into a 100-gallery museum of 21st-century art from Africa and its diaspora. Zeitz MOCAA hosts international events and exhibitions to provide an intercultural look into the world of African art. Works from revolutionary artists such as Kudzanai Chiurai of Zimbabwe and Wangechi Mutu of Kenya decorate the nine floors of the museum.

Located at the heart of Amsterdam’s Museum Square, the Rijksmuseum is one of the world’s most renowned art institutions. The museum first opened its doors in 1800 under the name ‘Nationale Kunstgalerij’. At the time, it was housed in Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, but in 1808, the museum moved to the new capital city of Amsterdam. The museum has on display 8,000 objects of art and history, from their total collection of 1 million objects from the years 1200–2000, Even if you have only little time to spare, a walk through the Gallery of Honor will offer you a glimpse of Dutch’s finest art.

The building that today houses the Museo Nacional del Prado was designed by architect Juan de Villanueva in 1785. It was constructed to house the Natural History Cabinet, by orders of King Charles III. However, the building’s final purpose – as the new Royal Museum of Paintings and Sculptures – was the decision of the monarch’s grandson, King Ferdinand VII, encouraged by his wife Queen Maria Isabel de Braganza. The Prado, opened to the public in 1819, and today, it is one of the most popular places in the art world, with 3 million annual visitors and an online presence that exceeds 10 million visitors.

Founded in 1929 as an educational institution, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is dedicated to being the world’s foremost museum of modern art. The museum manifests this commitment by establishing, preserving, and documenting a collection of the highest order that reflects the vitality, complexity and unfolding patterns of contemporary art. From an initial gift of eight prints and one drawing, MoMA’s collection has grown to include 150,000 paintings, sculptures, and design objects, as well as some 22,000 films, videos, media works, film stills, scripts, and historical documents.

While Vatican City is home to the Roman Catholic Church’s governing body and its head, the pope, this small sovereign city-state within Rome offers a wealth of cultural attractions open to visitors of any faith. No visit to the Vatican City would be complete without visiting the world-famous Vatican Museums. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries including several of the most renowned Roman sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world.