Stillness, in front of the canvas

Stillness, in front of the canvas

The Louvre in Paris is the largest museum in the world. Viewing every piece for 30 seconds would take 100 days.✦The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg employs dozens of cats to protect its priceless artworks from mice.✦Florence's Uffizi Gallery was originally built in the 16th century as an office complex for magistrates.✦The Smithsonian is a complex of 19 different museums, galleries, and a national zoological park.✦From 1912 to 1948, art was an official Olympic event with medals for architecture, music, painting, and sculpture.✦The Mona Lisa has its own dedicated mailbox at the Louvre for the daily influx of love letters.✦Opened in 1759, the British Museum was the world's first national public museum.✦The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia displays actual preserved pieces of Albert Einstein's brain.✦New York's Guggenheim Museum features a single, continuous spiral ramp instead of traditional floors.✦The Cancún Underwater Museum of Art features over 500 sculptures designed to become artificial coral reefs.✦Oxford's Ashmolean, opened in 1683, is considered the first university museum in the world.✦Madrid's Prado Museum was originally designed in the late 18th century as a natural history cabinet.✦The corridors of the Vatican Museums stretch for an astonishing 9 miles (14.5 kilometers).✦The floating dome of Louvre Abu Dhabi weighs 7,500 tonnes, nearly as much as the Eiffel Tower.✦The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is the only major museum in the world with a public bike path running through it.✦The Acropolis Museum in Athens sits on pillars over an active archaeological excavation site.✦The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) in Massachusetts is entirely dedicated to art that is 'too bad to be ignored'.✦The British Museum holds the Rosetta Stone, which was the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.✦The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York contains over 2 million works spanning 5,000 years.✦The Vasa Museum in Stockholm houses a fully intact 17th-century ship that sank on its maiden voyage.✦The Neon Museum in Las Vegas preserves and exhibits iconic, retired neon signs from old casinos.✦The Galleria Borghese in Rome enforces a strict two-hour limit for all visitors to protect the art and avoid crowding.✦The Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb displays personal objects left over from former lovers.✦The National Palace Museum in Taipei houses the largest collection of ancient Chinese artifacts in the world.✦Salvador Dalí is buried directly beneath the stage of his self-designed museum in Figueres, Spain.✦The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna features a café situated under a magnificent, ornate octagonal dome.✦The Mauritshuis in The Hague is home to Vermeer's masterpiece, 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'.✦The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft displays a replica of 'necropants' made from human skin.✦The Art Institute of Chicago features a famous pair of bronze lions at its entrance, which get wreathes during the holidays.✦The Pergamon Museum in Berlin reconstructs massive archaeological structures, including the Ishtar Gate of Babylon.✦The Museo Subacuático de Arte in Mexico requires visitors to scuba dive or snorkel to view its exhibits.✦The Ghibli Museum in Tokyo strictly prohibits photography inside to encourage visitors to experience it with their own eyes.✦The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston still displays empty frames where 13 artworks were stolen in 1990.✦The Natural History Museum in London famously replaced its iconic dinosaur skeleton, Dippy, with a blue whale skeleton named Hope.✦The Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town was carved out of monumental historic grain silos.✦The Louvre in Paris is the largest museum in the world. Viewing every piece for 30 seconds would take 100 days.✦The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg employs dozens of cats to protect its priceless artworks from mice.✦Florence's Uffizi Gallery was originally built in the 16th century as an office complex for magistrates.✦The Smithsonian is a complex of 19 different museums, galleries, and a national zoological park.✦From 1912 to 1948, art was an official Olympic event with medals for architecture, music, painting, and sculpture.✦The Mona Lisa has its own dedicated mailbox at the Louvre for the daily influx of love letters.✦Opened in 1759, the British Museum was the world's first national public museum.✦The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia displays actual preserved pieces of Albert Einstein's brain.✦New York's Guggenheim Museum features a single, continuous spiral ramp instead of traditional floors.✦The Cancún Underwater Museum of Art features over 500 sculptures designed to become artificial coral reefs.✦Oxford's Ashmolean, opened in 1683, is considered the first university museum in the world.✦Madrid's Prado Museum was originally designed in the late 18th century as a natural history cabinet.✦The corridors of the Vatican Museums stretch for an astonishing 9 miles (14.5 kilometers).✦The floating dome of Louvre Abu Dhabi weighs 7,500 tonnes, nearly as much as the Eiffel Tower.✦The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is the only major museum in the world with a public bike path running through it.✦The Acropolis Museum in Athens sits on pillars over an active archaeological excavation site.✦The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) in Massachusetts is entirely dedicated to art that is 'too bad to be ignored'.✦The British Museum holds the Rosetta Stone, which was the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.✦The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York contains over 2 million works spanning 5,000 years.✦The Vasa Museum in Stockholm houses a fully intact 17th-century ship that sank on its maiden voyage.✦The Neon Museum in Las Vegas preserves and exhibits iconic, retired neon signs from old casinos.✦The Galleria Borghese in Rome enforces a strict two-hour limit for all visitors to protect the art and avoid crowding.✦The Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb displays personal objects left over from former lovers.✦The National Palace Museum in Taipei houses the largest collection of ancient Chinese artifacts in the world.✦Salvador Dalí is buried directly beneath the stage of his self-designed museum in Figueres, Spain.✦The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna features a café situated under a magnificent, ornate octagonal dome.✦The Mauritshuis in The Hague is home to Vermeer's masterpiece, 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'.✦The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft displays a replica of 'necropants' made from human skin.✦The Art Institute of Chicago features a famous pair of bronze lions at its entrance, which get wreathes during the holidays.✦The Pergamon Museum in Berlin reconstructs massive archaeological structures, including the Ishtar Gate of Babylon.✦The Museo Subacuático de Arte in Mexico requires visitors to scuba dive or snorkel to view its exhibits.✦The Ghibli Museum in Tokyo strictly prohibits photography inside to encourage visitors to experience it with their own eyes.✦The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston still displays empty frames where 13 artworks were stolen in 1990.✦The Natural History Museum in London famously replaced its iconic dinosaur skeleton, Dippy, with a blue whale skeleton named Hope.✦The Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town was carved out of monumental historic grain silos.✦
PARISFLORENCEAMSTERDAMLONDONMADRIDBERLIN

Explore

Find your next gallery.

Our museum diaries. Tap a pin to trace our steps or filter through the galleries we've personally visited and reviewed.

Museum type

Country

City

Latest from the halls

8 stories

Selected Frames

View Full Gallery

Your turn

Where should we go next?

Know a gallery that deserves a long, quiet afternoon? Tell us about it — the best recommendations become our next photo essays.