Museums come into your home: a virtual walk through the halls and exhibitions of the world
We continue with the obsession of making your quarantine a little more bearable and above all, of that you stay home , with some ideas for you to continue traveling, even in pajamas . Now we invite you to visit the best museums in the world.
Okay, you won't be able to see with your own eyes the picture he painted Van Gogh either 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' , but you do get every last bit of the seeds of 'The sunflowers' or of the little men who inhabit the altarpiece of The meadow , and do it from home without paying a single euro.
All this, thanks to the digitization of museums Yet the titanic collection of images scanned at very high resolution and the applications of Street view of the institutions of Google Arts and Culture.
We throw you some ideas and somewhere to zoom in on your magnifying glass . We will be back with more. We promise.
1. PRADO MUSEUM, MADRID
We couldn't start with another: one of the icons of Madrid and of universal Art History has closed its doors to contribute to that #I stay at home.
All quiet from it we approach to continue enjoying the best art gallery in the world (and not because we Madrilenians say so) with works such as 'Las Meninas' , by Velazquez, 'The Executions of the Second of May' either 'The Naked Maja', by Goya ; 'The knight with his hand on his chest', by El Greco, 'David the winner of Goliath', by Caravaggio...
We suggest you investigate El Bosco's Garden of Earthly Delights inch by inch, or Van der Weyden's 'The Descent', which will make you spend hours without even noticing. There is a lot in El Prado, and this is the perfect time to continue discovering it.
2.GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE
We continue through the Uffizi, of course. Not only because we will never get tired of visiting it, but because we want to make a nod to our italian colleagues . From its website you can take a tour of the angels in the collection, with works by Giotto, Simone Martini, Filippo Lippi, Verrochio, Leonardo or Botticelli.
From the latter you can also “visit” the 'Birth of Venus' and 'The Spring' , two of the masterpieces in this collection, in addition to others such as 'The Virgin with the Child Jesus' and 'Little Saint John', by Rafaello Sanzio; Caravaggio's 'Bacco' or Michelangelo's 'Tondo Duoni'. Florence will always remain Florence, and very soon we will be there in person.
3. VATICAN MUSEUMS, ROME
One of the great advantages of the telewalk through the museums is that you avoid the hateful crowds. This is especially appreciated in museums like the Vatican, where getting tickets is not so easy , and if you do, you have to learn to deal with the masses.
Here, in addition to the main works of the collection, you can see the Sistine Chapel in private, focusing on each of the figures painted by Michelangelo and with all his explanations.
The Sistine Chapel for you alone
4.VAN GOGH MUSEUM, AMSTERDAM
This is the time for reflection, solidarity and looking for beauty in simple things. Nobody knew how to do that with the mastery with which Van Gogh did it, hence his 'Almendro en flor', 'The bedroom in Arles' or 'The potato eaters' reach us all and make our skin crawl, whether we are from Guadalajara or Osaka.
All these works are in the collection of the Amsterdam museum, the redhead's treasure chest, which collects Google Arts & Culture. But there are also two interesting virtual exhibitions that delve into the life of the artist: ** the books he read and his love life, ** among others.
5.RIJKSMUSEUM, AMSTERDAM
Also in Amsterdam is this museum that brings together the crème de la crème of the art of Dutch painters: 'The Milkmaid' or 'Woman Reading a Letter', 'The Love Letter' by Vermeer', either 'Children teaching a cat to dance' by Jan Steen.
Many of them come to us that are not painted (and worth the expression) because they focus on everyday domestic scenes, like the ones we will experience these days. In addition to seeing them as a family, a good game for children can be to recreate them.
6. LOUVRE MUSEUM, PARIS
Its closure was one of the first to be announced and set off all the alarm bells in culture. The Louvre, one of the most visited museums in the world, takes a vacation and is in quarantine.
Have a good time: the permanent collection ('The Seated Scribe', the 'Venus de Milo', the 'Cerveteri Sarcophagus', the 'Hamurabi Code', Da Vinci's 'La Gioconda', Delacroix's 'Liberty Leading the People', 'The Raft of Medusa' by Théodore Géricault…), the building, the pyramid, the patios... are there for you to discover.
A virtual tour of the Louvre
7.BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON
'British' is very 'British'; the best passport to travel to other places and other times. The virtual visit from the museum's website can be done by collections of its objects, which are divided by themes and geographical areas –desire, love and identity, death and memory...–, or following the configuration of the galleries and rooms of the museum, exploring each of the pieces with their explanation and with the possibility of increase.
Shall we start with room 4, with the Rosetta Stone?
The virtual tour of the British Museum is simply amazing
8. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, NEW YORK
You will not walk through Central Park to get there with a stop to watch the squirrels and eat a dog from Nathan's, but there will be time for that. Meanwhile, create your list of what you are going to see next time giving you a walk with the Street View through Japanese, Indian, Egyptian art and through the collections of American painting, manuscripts or Greek sculptures.
If you are interested in fashion , now in Google Arts & Culture they have several virtual exhibitions, such as 'Coco Chanel Modernism' and 'Christina Dior: The new Look.'
9. MUSEE D'ORSAY, PARIS
The old train station houses this museum that keeps the best works of impressionism and post-impressionism. There they are Degas's dancers, Manet's 'Luncheon', Rodin's sculpture 'The Bronze Age'... that you can snoop from room to room, thanks to its Street View.
10. REINA SOFÍA MUSEUM, MADRID
Come back to Madrid: come to the Reina Sofía with three virtual tours, with a stop, of course, at the 'Gernika', but also through the photographs, posters and propaganda of the Spanish Civil War, the cubist universe of Gris and Picasso, 'Tableau et tabouret avec œufs' (Painting and stool with eggs) by Marcel Broodthaers or Dalí's still lifes.
During these weeks the microsites are also open Rethink Guernica and the RRS – Reina Sofía Museum Radio.
A walk from the sofa through the Reina Sofía