Top 10 Most Visited Museums in the World
10 – Victoria and Albert Museum, London (UK)
The Art Newspaper has just released its ranking of the top 10 most visited museums in the world. Coming in at number 10 is the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK. The museum, which specialises in sculpture and decorative arts, had around 3,970,000 visitors in 2018, earning it two spots in the top 10.
9 – The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (Russia)
Coming in at number 9 is the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia, which had 4,220,000 visitors in 2018, making it into the top 10. Founded in 1764, it is one of the largest museums in the world in terms of both floor area and the objects on display.
The Hermitage: opulence, splendor and modernity
To start the year off right, we continue our round-the-world tour of the most beautiful museums! Every day, from Monday to Friday, we let you discover one of our favorite places, where art is perceived as an experience full of wonder and surprise. Today, head to the Hermitage, where you will witness Russia’s turbulent history, where royal treasures are kept alongside nuggets of modernity.
In snowy weather, the pastel-colored panorama of the Hermitage looks like a picture from a Christmas fairy tale… Standing proudly on the banks of the Neva, it alone embodies Russia’s eventful history, from the splendor of the Romanovs to the ideals of the Revolution. Its collections have been repeatedly threatened, and its collections span centuries. Inside, you will almost feel dizzy from the amount of gold and treasure that has settled in some 2,000 rooms of the museum, which in total houses almost 3 million works. While visiting, keep an eye out: you may even have the chance to meet one of the Hermitage cats, the museum’s famous caretakers, who, when not hunting mice in the reserves, stroll leisurely around the museum!What you need to knowThe former residence of the Russian tsars, the Hermitage is, above all, a huge complex comprising several buildings built in the 18th and 19th centuries: the Small Hermitage, the Great Hermitage, the New Hermitage, a theatre and the Winter Palace. The museum was founded in 1764 under the direction of Empress Catherine II, who wanted to embody the grandeur and power of the Empire. She then purchased important groups of works from Europe, which she presented to members of the court in the specially built Small Hermitage. An ambition pursued by his successor, Nicholas II, who expanded the museum and opened it to the public. Unlike the peaceful Neva below, the Hermitage’s destiny was not a long and quiet river. Its collections have been threatened on several occasions, and sometimes even miraculously survived, such as during the Great Fire of 1837 that devastated the Winter Palace, or the Siege of Leningrad during World War II. Renamed a State Museum after the October Revolution, the Hermitage lost some of its treasures (including the Diana , a marble by Jean-Antoine Houdon bought by the Armenian Calouste Gulbenkian ) during the dismantling of part of its collections as part of the USSR’s first Five-Year Plan, but it remained a showcase of the Soviet Union until the 1990s. Today, it is the first museum in Russia and one of the largest museums in the world.
Don’t miss
When to start ? In this sumptuous labyrinth of masterpieces, it is impossible not to notice the Tauride Venus (2nd century BC) – the very first ancient marble exhibited in Russia! – “The Crouching Boy” (1530–34) by Michelangelo or the tender “Three Graces” (1812) by Canova. As for painting, we admire the angelic Benois Madonna (1478–82) and the Litta Madonna (c. 1490) by Leonardo da Vinci, the Lute Player (1595–96) by Caravaggio, the touching portrait of the pregnant Saskia painted by his husband. Rembrandt… It is in the Hermitage that one can admire part of the wonderful collections of Sergei Shchukin and the Morozov brothers, great patrons of our time.
8 – National Gallery of Art, Washington (USA)
In eighth place we find the National Gallery of Art, located in Washington, D.C., USA. The museum houses an extensive collection of numerous masterpieces and was visited by just over 4,404,000 people in 2018.
7 – National Gallery, London (UK)
In seventh place is the National Gallery in London (UK), known for its extensive collection of 20th-century paintings. In 2018, these works attracted around 5,736,000 visitors, making it into the top 10.
6 – British Museum, London (UK)
In sixth place is the famous British Museum in London, UK and its extensive collection of antiquities. In 2018, the museum was visited by 5,820,000 people.
5 – Tate Modern, London (United Kingdom)
Coming in fifth place is the United Kingdom’s most visited museum, Tate Modern, which houses an extensive collection of modern art. In 2018, it, along with the British Museum, attracted around 5,869,000 visitors. It’s no surprise that so many London museums are in the top 10, as most of the city’s museums offer free admission and are therefore a great option for tourists.
4 – Vatican Museums, Rome
The top four spots in the top 10 remained unchanged from last year. In fourth place are the Vatican Museums, which attracted around 6,756,000 visitors in 2018.
3 – Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (USA)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the largest art museums in the world, ranks third with 6,954,000 visitors in 2018. The museum’s collections contain more than two million works of art from different countries and periods.
The New York Metropolitan, a crazy collection in the middle of Central Park.
To end the year in style, how about a tour of the world’s most remarkable museums? Every day, Monday through Friday, we lets you discover one of its favorite places where art is an experience full of wonder and surprise. Today, head to the Big Apple, where a must-see is the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art, or “The Met.”
The Met has announced that it has received a donation (its largest ever!) of $125 million from an American couple that will allow it to renovate its state-of-the-art art spaces. Great news! The venerable institution was definitely in need of an update. Opened in 1872, it was founded shortly thereafter in Central Park on Fifth Avenue, in a building designed by architects Calvert Vaux and Jacob Ray Mould, which has since undergone numerous expansions. But we don’t go to the Met for the architecture, but for its amazing collections, which are a must-see on any trip to New York. What you need to know Like the Louvre, the Met cannot be visited in an hour: plan a day (or, in the ultimate luxury, several visits) to appreciate its 19 departments and 250,000 works, exhibited in 270 rooms, dotted with several cafes and restaurants. A world unto itself! It transports us to ancient Egypt, but also to Greece or Rome, to Africa, to the Arab world, to Oceania, to America or even Europe, covering at least 5,000 years of history. Paintings and sculptures are complemented by musical instruments, drawings and engravings, photographs, weapons, architecture and costumes, creating a panorama as vast as it is dizzying. Add to this the Cloisters, a building entirely dedicated to medieval art, located in the north of Manhattan Island.
Don’t miss
It’s here that you can finally see in person Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”, Dürer’s engraving “Melancholia I”, the Temple of Isis in Dendur, Rodin’s “Adam”, Vermeer’s “Young Woman with a Pitcher”, Georges de La Tour’s “Madeleine with Two Flames”, Vincent Van Gogh’s “L’Arlésienne”… But you can also immerse yourself in sumptuous period rooms, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s salon and the painted room of P. Fannius Sinistor’s villa in Boscoreale, near Pompeii.
2 – National Museum of China, Beijing
The National Museum of China ranks second in the top 10 with 8,610,000 visitors in 2018. It is also one of the largest museums in the world, and its collection covers the art and history of China. The museum once held the number one spot in the ranking, but has now been largely dethroned by the French museum, which holds the number one spot.
1 – Louvre, Paris (France)
It is the Louvre in Paris that ranks first in the top 10 most visited museums in the world. Although it is the only French museum in the ranking, it sets a real record: in 2018, the Louvre surpassed the 10 million visitor mark. An increase in attendance of 26%, an unprecedented record for an art museum. 2018 was marked by the success of the Eugène Delacroix exhibition at the Louvre, which attracted 540,000 visitors.
