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Guggenheim Museum, New York
Visitors to the Guggenheim Museum are sure to be impressed by the building's unique spiral architecture. Visitors can enjoy the artwork by taking an elevator from the top, which then descends to the spiral base as intended by the architect.
You can explore the Guggenheim Museum's collection via Google Street View, an app that lets you truly "walk" through this magnificent architectural masterpiece. As you approach a work of art, Google will provide you with detailed information about it.
Musée D'Orsay, Paris
Google Street View also takes you inside the famous Musée D'Orsay in Paris, on the left bank of the Seine River. It's located in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts style building, a railway station constructed between 1898 and 1900. The museum primarily displays French art from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the world's largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, including famous works by Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin, and Van Gogh, among them Van Gogh's "Self-Portrait" and Whistler's "Portrait of the Painter's Mother." Many of these works were exhibited at the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume before the museum opened in 1986. It is one of the largest art museums in Europe.
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul
The vast collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Korea is also available on virtual tours via Google Maps. Some exhibits involving animation or video (like the work pictured above) will only be available as still images, but otherwise you can also enjoy a wide variety of other artworks, including paintings and photography.
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
The J. Paul Getty Museum also offers virtual tours via Google Street View, so you can not only enjoy the artwork and sculptures on display but also observe the architecture of the entire building. Areas within the museum grounds that you can't access via Street View can still be seen in various images through Google Maps.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
The Uffizi Gallery (Galleria degli Uffizi) is a prominent art museum located near Piazza della Signoria in the heart of Florence, Tuscany, Italy. It is one of Italy's most important museums, and also one of the most important and famous in the world. The Uffizi houses a priceless collection of works by the de Medici family from the Italian Renaissance, including Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" and Caravaggio's Medusa. And you can even experience a virtual tour of the Uffizi using Google Street View!
Boboli Gardens, Florence
Boboli Gardens, part of the Pitti Palace, is Florence's largest garden, built by Duke Cosimo I de Medici as a gift for his wife, Eleonora di Toledo. The design of Boboli Gardens resembles a racetrack and is adorned with sculptures of figures from Roman mythology. Boboli Gardens has served as a model for many other beautiful gardens throughout Europe, including the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. Today, it is part of an open-air museum and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Your movement might be limited to the virtual space, but you can almost take in the entire Boboli Gardens. After wandering around museums all day, why not immerse yourself in this refreshing greenery?
Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru
Located in the Urubamba Valley, Peru, lies Machu Picchu, a symbol of the once glorious Inca empire, now in ruins and forgotten for centuries. Its ancient beauty, shrouded in mysteries yet to be fully explained, attracts numerous adventurous tourists and scientists alike. This site, also listed among the New Seven Wonders of the World, is an ideal destination for those passionate about culture and archaeology.
Virtual experiences will never be a complete mirror of reality, but being able to walk through the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru via your computer screen would still be amazing, wouldn't it?
São Paulo Museum of Art
The São Paulo Museum of Art (Museu de Arte de São Paulo) in Brazil boasts the largest and most comprehensive collection of Western art from Latin America and the entire Southern Hemisphere, with over 8,000 works including paintings, sculptures, artifacts, and costumes from various periods and artistic cultures from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, spanning from the 13th century to the present day. The collection is expanded through exchanges with several museums worldwide and partner companies, creating a comprehensive contemporary overview of all art forms. Temporary exhibitions on diverse themes, including national and international exhibitions on contemporary art, photography, design, and architecture, take place year-round, providing a valuable artistic resource for the public.
But what truly sets it apart from other art museums is the way the works are displayed. Mounted by concrete and glass blocks, these artworks look as if they are suspended in mid-air.
Dolores Olmedo Museum, Mexico City
A virtual tour of Mexico's Dolores Olmedo Museum will bring before your eyes archaeological artifacts steeped in Mexican history and exhibitions featuring works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, featured in the classic teen movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," is also one of the world's most beloved museums. In this virtual tour, you'll have the chance to admire a vast art collection including works by Monet, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Cézanne.
Palace of Versailles, France
The Palace of Versailles is renowned as the most magnificent palace in Europe and the most beautiful in the world, thanks to its enormous scale, exquisite architecture, and opulent decor. It is also a symbol of the ultimate power of the French feudal dynasties. Your home may not be a palace, but you can sit in front of your computer screen at home and take a virtual tour of the Palace of Versailles, including the famous Hall of Mirrors, through this virtual tour. Besides its lavish and magnificent architecture, the Palace of Versailles is also famous for its stunning frescoes.
Tokyo National Museum
The Tokyo National Museum is the oldest museum in Japan, having opened in 1872. It houses approximately 114,000 items. Besides the Honkan (traditional Japanese wooden screen), the museum is divided into 10 other major exhibition areas, including Heiseikan, Hyokeikan, and Toyokan. Among the items housed here are 87 national treasures, 634 recognized as valuable national cultural assets, and countless rare documents. The artworks and artifacts displayed at the museum originate not only from Japan but also from neighboring Asian countries. In this virtual tour, you can observe each historical artifact, as well as world-famous works such as "The Great Wave off Kanagawa."
Sintra National Palace, Portugal
The Royal Palace of Sintra is the best-preserved medieval royal palace in Portugal and a favorite of Portuguese nobility. This minimalist Gothic castle hides a marvel within its chambers. The national palace is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a major tourist attraction. Its architecture is stunning and well worth seeing via Google Street View.
