Virtual Tour: Explore The World’s Most Famous Museums From Home

The internet has brought the Louvre close to home.

It is now possible to virtually explore some of Europe’s best-known museums from home. From before the pandemic but especially during it, museums enabled virtual tours, put specific collections and galleries online. These aren’t slide-shows of the artefacts but offer 360-degree views of the environment in which they are kept – the halls and galleries. You can also zoom in for a closer look at the objects on display. A majority of such museums have tied up with Google Maps Street View to offer free virtual tours. Google Arts and Culture also provides 3D virtual museum tours. Here’s a list of five must-take museum virtual tours with a detailed description of what each museum is famous for. These museums are home to some of the world’s best-known works of art – Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone which enabled the translation of Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera, Michelangelo’s Holy Family with the Infant and St. John the Baptist, Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon and much more. These museums feature Raphael, Caravaggio, Bernini, Donatello, Eugene Delacroix, Theodore Gericault, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, and dozens more as revered.

Vatican Museums, Rome

(Virtual view of the Raphael Rooms, Source: Vatican Museums’ website)

Vatican Museums have the world’s greatest and oldest art collections. It is located in Vatican City, Rome, Italy. The collection includes over 70,000 classical paintings, tapestries, sculptures, and other works by Da Vince, Raphael, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Bernini and many others from the Renaissance period. There are 54 galleries of artwork. The Vatican Museums also has in its collection works by Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Carlo Carra, Gauguin and many others. The entire museum can be viewed through free virtual tours.

Website: museivaticani.va

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Louvre Museum, France

(Virtual view of one of the galleries of Louvre Museum, Source: Louvre Museum’ website

The Louvre Museum is the most-visited museum in the world with the richest collection of artworks from across the world and ages, starting from Mesopotamia, the earliest human civilisation, to works of cultural significance for France. It is located in the heart of Paris and was established in 1793 at the site of a medieval palace. The museum currently has 35,000 pieces of artwork on display including the Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo and Nike of Samothrace. It also has Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks. It and the Louvre Museum played significant roles in Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code.

Website: louvre.fn/en

The British Museum, London

(Rosetta Stone in the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery of The British Museum, Source: Google Street View)

The British Museum, located in London, is the world's oldest national public museum. It was founded in 1753. Google Street View allows virtual access to more than 60 galleries and over 7,000 artefacts including the main attractions of this museum - The Rosetta Stone, The Sophilos Vase, the Parthenon Sculptures (also known as Elgin Marbles), Bust of Ramesses the Great, The Tree of Life, Aztec Serpent, Grayson Perry’s The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman among others. The virtual tour of this museum allows one to search for a particular object or artefact by using keywords. One can also find this museum on Google Arts and Culture. It is also possible to participate in talks, performances, exhibitions and other online events conducted by the museum.

Website: britishmuseum.org

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Uffizi Gallery, Florence

(The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli in the Uffizi Gallery, Source: Uffizi Gallery)

Galleria degli Uffizi or the Uffizi Gallery, located in Florence, Italy, is one of the oldest and most visited art museums in the world. Given Florence’s centrality in the Italian Renaissance, most of the masterpieces here are from that period. The 360-degree virtual tour of this museum takes you to the Medici Venus, a marble sculpture depicting the Greek goddess Aphrodite; Sandro Boticelli’s The Birth of Venus; Paolo Uccello’s ‘The Battle of San Romano’, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Annunciation, Caravaggio’s Bacchus and more. There are four floors in the Uffizi gallery, the first and second floors can be viewed through free virtual tours. One has to register and book the slots in advance to see the entire Ufiizzi through virtual tours.

Website: virtualuffizi.com

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

(Triptych with the Adoration of the Magi kept on display in one of the galleries of the Rijksmuseum, Source: Rijksmuseum’s website)

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, mainly represents the history of Dutch arts. It has a large number of galleries and works that include ‘Self- Portrait’ by Vincent Van Gogh, Rembrandt’s The Night Watch and Vermeer’s The Milkmaid. One can take a paid virtual interactive tour.

Website: rijksmuseum.nl