Early museums began as private collections of wealthy individuals, families or institutions. They displayed rare or curious natural objects and artefacts in so-called wonder rooms or cabinets of curiosities. The <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/791/capitoline-museums">Capitoline Museums</a> are the oldest public collection of art in the world. It began in 1471 when Pope Sixtus IV donated a group of important ancient sculptures to the people of Rome. You can see medieval and Renaissance art, ancient Roman statues, coin and jewellery collections, etc.

The Capitoline Museums

The <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/785/vatican-museums">Vatican Museums</a> are a group of museums located inside the Vatican City. It traces its origins to the sculptural collection begun in 1506 by Pope Julius II. It displays works from the collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries and includes masterpieces of Renaissance art.

The Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani)

The <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/16117/royal-armouries-tower-of-london">Royal Armouries in the Tower of London</a> is the oldest museum in Britain. It opened to the public in 1660. Royal Armouries is located at three sites across England:<ul><li>In a purpose-built museum in <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/1402/royal-armouries-museum-leeds">Leeds</a>, West Yorkshire</li><li>A Victorian fort at <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/7396/royal-armouries-museum-fort-nelson">Fort Nelson</a>, Portsmouth, Hampshire</li><li>Its historic home at the <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/16117/royal-armouries-tower-of-london">Tower of London in the White Tower</a></li></ul>

The Royal Armouries in the Tower of London

The <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/1364/ashmolean-museum">Ashmolean Museum</a> in Britain is the oldest university museum in the world. In 1677, it received the cabinet of curiosities from Elias Ashmole. The museum houses an extensive collection of items with artistic and archaeological significance. Notable exhibitions include biblical manuscripts, drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo, watercolours by Turner, a ceremonial dress owned by Lawrence of Arabia, and more.

The Ashmolean Museum

The private collection was bought by the university and city of Basel in 1661 and opened to the public in 1671. The collection is now part of a rich historical and cultural heritage in the city of Basel. The main focus is on paintings and drawings by artists active in the Upper Rhine region between 1400 and 1600 and in the 19th and 21st centuries.

The Amerbach Cabinet

The <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/5711/muse-des-beauxarts-et-darchologie">Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'archéologie</a> in Besançon was established in 1694 when an abbot, Jean-Baptiste Boisot, gave his personal collection to the Benedictines of the city to create a museum open to the public. The museum is famous for its extensive collections of archaeology, paintings, and drawing cabinet and includes Egyptian mummies and works of art from famous Italian, French, and Spanish painters.

 The Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'archéologie

Founded in 1717, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (<a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/15970/kunstkamera">Kunstkamera</a>) in St. Petersburg is one of the richest ethnographical museums in the world.

The Kunstkamera 

The <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/418/british-museum">British Museum</a> in London was founded in 1753. Sir Hans Sloane's personal collection of curios provided the initial collection. Today its collections number more than seven million objects from around the world and illustrate and documented the story of human culture.

The British Museum

The <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/5340/uffizi-gallery">Uffizi Gallery</a> in Florence started in the 15th century by Cosimo de’ Medici. It is one of the most famous museums of paintings and sculpture globally, containing universally acclaimed Primitive and Renaissance paintings. It includes works by Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Caravaggio.

The Uffizi Gallery

The <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/15967/the-state-hermitage-museum">State Hermitage Museum</a> in St. Petersburg, founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great, contains over three million works of art and artefacts of the world culture. It includes paintings, graphic works, sculptures and works of applied art, archaeological finds and numismatic material.

The State Hermitage Museum

The <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/773/museo-nacional-del-prado">Museo del Prado</a> in Madrid. Founded in 1785 by Charles III of Spain, the significant royal collection represents the foundation of the Museum's collection as we know it today. Today, we can see great masterpieces such as The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosh, The Nobleman with his hand on his Chest by El Greco, Death of the Virgin by Mantegna, The Holy Family known as The Pearl by Raphael, Emperor Carlos V on Horseback by Titian, The Foot Washing by Tintoretto, Self-portrait by Durër, Las Meninas by Velázquez, The Three Graces by Rubens, and The Family of Carlos IV by Goya.

Museo del Prado

The <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/358/belvedere">Belvedere</a> Palace of the Habsburg monarchs in Vienna opened in 1781 with a collection of art. It holds the greatest collection of Austrian art dating from the Middle Ages to today.

The Belvedere Palace of the Habsburg monarchs

The <a href="http://museums.eu/museum/details/702/louvre-museum">Louvre Museum</a> opened to the public in 1793. It contains nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century.

The Louvre Museum in Paris

The first collection was established around 1790. The collections were officially opened to the public in 1817, making it the oldest institution of its kind in Romania. The museum comprises:<ul><li>European Art, Romanian Art and the Library (in the Brukenthal Palace),</li><li>Contemporary Art and the Museum of History (in the Altemberger House),</li><li>the Museum of Natural History, Museum of Pharmacy and Museum of Hunting.</li></ul>

The Brukenthal National Museum in Sibiu, Transylvania

The Museum was founded in 1773. It is the oldest in Latvia and the whole of the Baltics. The Museum is situated in Old Riga, in a remarkable architectural monument of the 13th–20th centuries - the ensemble of the Riga Dom. The rich and diverse collections of the Museum came from an art and natural sciences collection of a Riga doctor, Nikolaus von Himsel (1729–1764). It houses over 5000 000 items, grouped in about 80 collections.

The Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation

A list of some of the oldest and finest museums in Europe that you can still visit.

Stashed ideas

The world’s oldest museums

It’s easy to feel intimidated because you’re not an expert on the Renaissance and you can’t quickly name the difference between the Baroque and the Rococo. But it all comes down to one thing: Your reaction is the one that counts. There is no value in mouthing the conventional wisdom. Identifying your reaction, in its emotional, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions, is the whole point of the enterprise.

When Art Feels Too Much

Curators, professors, gallerists and critics have all devoted themselves to the study and appreciation of art. But the experts’ job is not to supply answers that you must commit to. They can instead help you, if you want, to come up with your own questions: "How was something made? What other artwork is relevant? Is there a hidden story or a backing idea that isn’t apparent?" Remember that an expert opinion is still an opinion. It’s not a judgment that you necessarily have to agree with. Once you realize that, you will likely find these experts extremely helpful.

Aren’t There Experts on This?

Want to find meaning and inspiration in art but aren’t sure where to start? Even if you’ve never set foot in a gallery before, we'll help you learn how to trust your inner critic, how to appreciate the big ideas and small details of a piece, and how to discover new art, both in and out of the museum.

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How to Enjoy Art - A Year of Living Better Guides

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#museums

IDEAS ABOUT #museums

The world’s oldest museums

How to Enjoy Art - A Year of Living Better Guides

It's time to

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A PRO!

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career