The Hermitage is located in the heart of St. Petersburg, between the embankment of the Neva river and Palace Square.
The Hermitage occupies five adjoining buildings (the Winter Palace, the Hermitage Theatre, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage and the New Hermitage) forming a beautiful architectural ensemble.
Currently the Hermitage holds more than two and a half of cultural and artistic objects of the peoples of Europe and the Middle million from ancient times to the twentieth century.
Hermitage history begins with Peter the Great, when it acquired several works of art, including David were saying goodbye to Jonathan, by Rembrandt and Venus Tauride. It is considered that the museum was officially born in 1764, when a Berlin businessman sent 225 boxes Catherine II as payment for a debt. Upon receipt Catalina wanted his gallery was unsurpassed by other monarchs collections and started buying almost everything sold in European auctions.
The Winter Palace, which became part of the museum in 1922, was for two centuries the main residence of the czars. It was built for the Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, and their facades, inside the palace church and the majestic main staircase they are a rare example of so-called Russian Baroque XVIII century. However the rooms of the palace are the nineteenth century, because after fire in 1837 were reconstructed according to the fashion of the time. Although it became showrooms have not lost all its splendor. The most beautiful of all is the Malachite room; columns, pilasters, fireplaces, lamps and tables are decorated with malachite of the Ural mountains. The bright green malachite, combined with the brightness of gold and silk furnishings walled with raspberry determine the fantastic impression of this room.
The building of the new Hermitage found a part of the collection of the Italian masters, which was built by Nicolas I and opened the doors to the public 150 years ago. Here is Italian art from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century Annunciation Martini, The Vision of St. Augustine, Lippi, The Virgin and Child Fra Angelico, The Lute Player by Caravaggio. The only work of Michelangelo, The crouching child was destined for the pantheon of the Medici.
In large rooms, decorated with vases of malachite and lapis lazuli, the exhibition of Italian paintings and a collection of Spanish painting, considered one of the best outside the borders of Spain are. There you can see works by El Greco, Velázquez, Ribera, Zurbaran, Murillo and Goya. The rich collection of Spanish painters of the Golden Age belonging to Coesvelt banker, gathered during the Napoleonic War, arrived at the Hermitage in 1814. At this time the purchases were arranged and the museum bought the works that are considered essential to reflect fully art history. In addition to the Spanish paintings in the early nineteenth century paintings by masters of the Netherlands they were acquired. This collection is not large but has masterpieces by Robert Camping, Roger van the Weyden and Hugo van the Goes.
In every era Russian collectors had a special fondness for the work of the Flemish and Dutch painters of the seventeenth century. Five rooms of the Hermitage New treasured works of Rubens, from the earliest to the latest, famous portraits by Van Dyck, hunting scenes and abundant Paul de Vos still lifes of Frans Snyders. Dutch painters collection has more than a thousand pictures of all genres. Rembrandt's paintings occupy a large room and give a clear idea of all so creative work: youth portrait of his wife Saskia, represented as the goddess Flora, the tragic Deposition from the Cross, the gripping portrait of the old man in red ... and end jewel of the collection, the return of the prodigal son, evangelical scene in which the teacher could express their faith in the good and in human love.
Opened in 1819, the Museo del Prado has one of the best collections of paintings in the world. The high average quality of its funds and the magnificent representation of many of the biggest names in the history of painting have made the Prado is often seen as "a museum of masterpieces" .A museum where you can admire the most comprehensive in the world of works by Titian, Velazquez, Ribera, Murillo, Goya, Rubens, El Bosco and El Greco and offers a comprehensive overview of the Spanish school of the modern age, from the masters of the XVI century to Sorolla collections. also rich in collections of Venetian painting of the sixteenth century, with masterpieces by Tintoretto and Veronese, Flemish painting XV (Van der Weyden, Memling ...) to XVII (Van Dyck, Rubens, Jordaens ...), French classicists of the seventeenth, Italian baroque painting and Roman sculpture, the Prado Museum is a place for lovers of art and one of the most internationally recognized Spanish cultural institutions visit.
The Paseo de la Reforma leads from the center to the green lung of the city: Chapultepec Park. There is surrounded by other museums, the hood that protects the origins of complex network is now the Mexican nation, the National Museum of Anthropology. The building was designed by famed Mexican architect Pedro Ramirez Vazquez, and was opened in 1964. Surely when entering fall under the spell of its central courtyard with a huge umbrella, representing a mythological tree, with carved eagles and jaguars, all which are important symbols for the Mesoamerican cultures. That beautiful view justifies the visit, but the best is yet to come.
The museum is divided into 23 themed rooms. There you will find a space dedicated to the first nomadic tribes and another to the Olmec culture, which flourished more than three thousand years ago. There are also rooms dedicated to the Maya, Zapotec, Toltec, Teotihuacan and Mexica or Aztecs. In the gardens are some replicas of stelae and sculptures from famous archaeological zones in Chiapas, Oaxaca and Yucatan.
The most visited part is, undoubtedly, the Piedra de Sol, bad popularly called "Aztec calendar" which is a monolith of 25 tons dated to the 15th century and was discovered in what is now the Zocalo. You can also admire here the reconstruction of a Mayan tomb of the eighth century and a copy of the plume of Moctezuma.
The Guggenheim Museum, designed by the architect and designer of American nationality Canadian Frank O. Gehry, is today perhaps the most important hallmark of Bilbao, and certainly the building that in recent years the city has shot to fame worldwide.
This unique building, which has won distinguished awards including the "Outstanding Structure Award" of IABSE has impressive modern architecture.
Its construction lasted four years, and the costs were very high, although it remained within the initial budget.
The building almost oval plant resembles a boat upriver wanting shipwrecked in the Puente de la Salve.
The architecture - glass, metal and limestone - is characterized by its spectacular organic shapes, contrasting with simple geometric designs, creating a very original set.
Frank Gehry, to choose the lining of the Guggenheim Museum, was inspired by the feathers and scales of many animals. He noted its fixings and the possibility of movement they give. From this metal flakes that were to cover organic and curved shapes of the building they were generated.
For these scales chose a very light metal, which was an alloy of zinc and titanium with a very high percentage of the second which resulted in that, unlike its previous projects in which he used a cheaper metal, the cost was very high .
Another feature of the building are the reflections of light and mirror games that produce interesting optical effects. These games are caused by glass cladding whose reflections multiply those artificial lake and it would generate.
In front of the building we see a sculpture of a spider by Louise Bourgeois sculpture and botanical big dog "Puppy" by the American artist Jeff Koons. The latter was originally planned that was temporarily exposed, but to the success among the locals, who opposed it disappeared, has been left there permanently.
The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is one of the seven museums that American "Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation" Foundation in various parts of the world.
In an area of 11,000 sqm houses both a permanent exhibition and temporary exhibitions of contemporary art, particularly works ranging from the second half of the twentieth century to today.
The permanent collection consists of works from the Foundation, and other subsequently acquired by the Museum. Part of it, creations of prominent figures such as David Salle, Chillida, Jeff Koons, Louis Bourgeois and Robert Rauschenberg, among others.
In addition, the museum organizes temporary exhibitions that change frequently and activities for those who wish to broaden their knowledge of art is.
A visit to the Guggenheim than to contact a wide sample of painting and sculpture, confronts us with performances, installations, videos and other manifestations of the genre.
commonly known as Egyptian Museum (Arabic المتحف المصري), it is located in Cairo (Egypt), and holds the greatest collection of artifacts from the era of ancient Egypt; It has more than 120,000 classified objects from different periods of Egyptian history.
Since the military campaign in Egypt Napoleon, European interest in Egypt was waking into a real mania for the Pharaonic and old.
During the early nineteenth century, European consuls and treasure hunters, explored throughout the country, some in search of relics and monuments and others in search of gold and precious treasures.
In 1835, the Service des Antiquités de I'Egypte was founded to protect the monuments and treasures of the country in the local and foreign greed. At first, the pieces found were kept in a small building near the current Azbakia area in the center of Cairo and later in the Citadel of Saladin.
However and during the visit of the Austrian Emperor Maximilian, Governor, Egypt Abbas Pasha gave the entire collection.
In 1858, Auguste Mariette prepared another museum, in the neighborhood of Bulaq, who later lost by a flood of the Nile.
In 1878, the contents of the museum Boulaq moved to Giza Palace of the Governor Ismael Pasha, the governor of the country. The collection remained there until the current museum was inaugurated in 1902.
The present building was designed by French architect Marcel Dourgrion in a style neoclassico, thinking it would be the most appropriate for your content. Two of the floors of the museum are devoted to public exhibition and classroom study, in which more than 120,000 pieces of different eras of ancient Egypt, in chronological order in the direction of clockwise is.
Receives many people from neighboring countries, which are China and Japan, because they do not waste the advantages offered by their geographical proximity and move towards the place.
In Korea there are a variety of interesting places to visit, but if staying in place is not wide enough that meet two typical cities. One is Pusan, located near the Japanese coast and is promptly visited by the Japanese in the holiday period, as well as by tourists arriving in Hiroshima and make the decision to cross the pond, in the direction of Korean and Seoul, which is its capital. Right here, one of the possible destinations to visit is the National Museum of Korea, a perfect place to take a glimpse into the history of the country and is separated into two. Opened since 1945, the building being changed in 2005, so now it is in the Yongsan Family Park.
The museum is composed of a collection corresponding to approximately 150,000 pieces, of which there are some 11,000 always on display. This is considered the largest museum in Asia. In order to protect the treasures to be found in the new building, a building that is earthquake-proof and each of its rooms has special platforms which are absorbed shocks and tremors were built. Likewise has a system of natural lighting and air purification system that has been specially designed to save energy and protect the articles.
The National Museum of Korea has dimensions of 404 meters long. It is three stories high and around a number of large gardens. The left side is dedicated to the past and the right side is dedicated to the present and future of the country. At the first level are the elements related to archeology and historical documents, the second floor is devoted to the arts in general, ie the crafts, paintings, calligraphy, etc.
as well as private collections that were donated, and finally on the third level the second part of the second, composed of more Korean Buddhist sculptures and handicrafts is also a special gallery devoted exclusively to Asian art
The second half of the nineteenth century was marked by the personality and the legacy of Queen Victoria of England. During his tenure he reached the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the heyday of the British Empire. But his figure would not be understood without the presence of her husband, Prince Albert who lived a love story whose death, also defined the character and the reign of Victoria past 40 years.
During this period, Alberto drives the realization of the Great Exhibition to show the world the development attained by England. In 1851 the area of Kensington in London Hyde Park is transformed to host the exhibition halls. Thus it was born, for example, the majestic building of the Crystal Palace we can still visit. The Great Exhibition was a success and one consequence of this was the creation of the present Victoria and Albert Museum.
The museum was established in 1852 under the principle of putting the works of decorative art exhibition worldwide, educate and inspire the working class and industrial designers British. At first it was called the Museum of manufacturers and their fund was created based on the acquisition of individual pieces and objects.
The museum moved to its present site in 1857 and is named South Kensington Museum. His collection grew rapidly by acquiring pieces of furniture, textiles and other decorative arts. He also added artworks as painting, drawings, prints and sculpture as a means to illustrate the different times in which they were created industrial objects.
Gradually they were adding and building outbuildings to house the ever-expanding collection until 1899 when Queen Victoria herself laid the foundation for the building we know today. At that time, it was Victoria who renamed the museum with his name and that of her husband died 30 years earlier.
