Visiting to Various Museums to Enrich One’s Knowledge
Museums are institutions possessing a vast collection of significant artifacts and works of art. It is a place of knowledge and learning. A person could gain access through the history of time by just visiting a museum because inside the museums are materials that symbolize the significance of its creation during the era which it was made. By just merely watching the artifacts in the museum, a person can understand the history of a certain artifact and the impact it provides to the viewers can deepen their knowledge about what was it like during those years.
Museums are tasked to collect artifacts for safe keeping with a historical, artistic, or even perhaps scientific importance. It is also their task to make those artifacts available for public viewing, which could be temporary or permanent in nature. Most of the large and prestigious museums are located near the cities of progressive countries in the world attracting millions of tourists around the globe. Museums also play an integral part in making the tourism department of a country very progressive. On the other hand, the majority of the small museums are located in much smaller cities and countries, which are considered not that progressive.
Museums are found worldwide. This makes it accessible for a person who loves to witness ancient artifacts and works of art. Schools also benefit from this set-up since their students can learn a lot from visiting various museums and learn how artifacts are kept safe and preserved to last for a life time. However, during the early times, the creation of museums was not made for public viewing. It was exclusively for the rich and elite individuals in the society, not for ordinary persons in the streets. Museums then served as private collections of rich individuals and their families as well as art institutions. Although there are times wherein ordinary people can be able to view these artifacts, but it has to be under the consent of the owner and his family. Only by that way can individuals, not within the elite circle in the society be able to witness such wonderful creations of art.
Some museums allow viewers to, actually hold the artifacts to, better appreciate its beauty but some do not allow this behavior for safety. Handling of artifacts by bare hands would increase the chance of possible damaging its beauty that is why some museums prefer a more hands-off approach when viewing artifacts. However, with the advent of the Internet, works of art can now be seen, even if you are away from where it actually lies. It is considered as bridging the gap which actually provides all people the access of viewing the artifacts. Generally, museums are accessible to the general public in today’s modern time. Some museum allows viewers to enter for free because it is supported by the government either permanently or temporarily while others ask for admission fee or entrance fee.
The good thing about museums is that they are built for information dissemination and providing knowledge to the general public. They are not established for reasons of profit. Their priority is feeding knowledge to the eager young minds of today’s generation and money is only needed for the basic purpose of maintaining the life of the artifacts and the whole museum in general. Aside from being non-profitable, they are also reliable sources of facts and information. This gives the museums the edge over Internet sources because anyone can upload information in the Internet that is why reliability may be questioned. In addition, some Internet sources needed citations and require a person to confirm the data shown in the web. Therefore, museums are by far more reliable sources of factual data than the Internet.
Museums can be classified according to type. Some museums specifically cater on natural history, fine arts, cosmology, archaeology, culture, botany, and many others. Each type of museum has a core of collections within its field. An example of a specific type of museum is the museum of arts. It may also be called art gallery. Inside this museum houses a vast collection of masterpieces which viewers can definitely enjoy and marvel at. It includes artworks in the form of sculptures, paintings, pottery and many more. Another example of specific museums is a museum of history. It houses a wide array of historical pieces, which has great relevance in time. It includes materials such as documents, books, clothing, jewelry, and many others.
Therefore, visiting to museums would be a good idea, especially during school field trips. It provides viewers the unique chance of experiencing art at its best. It provides a venue for the collection of art and history.
Top Five Museums to Visit Before You Die
A trip to the museum can be an exciting activity for a lot of people. Museums hold treasures from a forgotten era, provide a glimpse of history, and help people appreciate the greatness and the wonders of civilizations unknown or long gone. Not to mention the fact that the best museums also feature amazing architecture.
Admittedly, with hundreds of museums scattered all around the world, it is close to impossible to visit each of them. However, here is a list of the top five and the best museums around the globe that you should visit in your lifetime.
1. The Louvre Museum (Paris, France)
The Louvre is probably the most popular museum in the world right now, thanks to several inferences to it from popular works of literature like “The Da Vinci Code.” The museum’s collection ranges from treasures that go back to antiquity to treasures belonging to the Renaissance Period and to the French masters of the 19th century. The Louvre, according to its official Web site, currently has 35,000 pieces of art that are exhibited in an area more than 60,000 square meters. And there are a lot more in storage.
Those currently in display are categorized into eight departments, including antiquities from all around the world spanning several time periods, prints, drawings, paintings, decorative arts and even Islamic art.
2. Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Netherland’s largest and biggest art and history museum, the Rijksmuseum, houses a wide variety of art pieces.
Art lovers, particularly followers of the Dutch masters from the 17th century like Rembrandt, would bask in the museum’s collections of masterpieces from these painters, as well as of artworks from the 19th and 18th centuries, and even as far back as the Middle Ages!
Rijksmuseum is currently home to Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch.”
3. The Vatican Museums (Vatican City, Italy)
With 22 separate collections, The Vatican Museums have pieces that come from ancient times, to the medieval period, the Renaissance, as well as modern times. There are Egyptian and Etruscan pieces and religious artifacts from different time periods. The Vatican Museums are not solely for the religious, as everyone would surely appreciate the beauty of Michelangelo’s dome at the Sistine Chapel and of the spiral columns made by Bernini.
Aside from the Sistine Chapel, places worth visiting at the Vatican Museums include:
* The Raphael Rooms
* The Gallery of Candelabras
* The tapestries housed at the Galleria deli Arazzi, and
* The maps at the Galleria delle Carte Geografiche.
4. The British Museum (London, UK)
The British Museum probably has the greatest pieces of antiques that come from non-European countries and non-European cultures. Art from China and from the Aztec civilization are some of them.
The museum has what is known as the largest collection on Ancient Egypt (outside Cairo), so you can see well-preserved Egyptian mummies. The British Museum also houses The Elgin Marbles, which is a collection of marble sculptures from the classical Greek era. The Rosetta Stone, which was instrumental in learning about hieroglyphs, can also be seen here.
The museum also boasts of a modernized Reading Room. Open to the general public, free of charge, the British Museum was founded on the collection of Hans Sloan. Since 1753, the museum has grown to house more than seven million pieces. Sadly, though, only 4 million are on exhibit.
5. The Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia)
Opened to the public by Nicholas I and currently composed of six full buildings, Russia’s The Hermitage houses a collection of three million pieces dating back to the 18th century.
Some of the Hermitage’s notable collections include jewelry, silverware and gemstones from Russia, Europe and the Orient, all housed in the Golden Rooms. It also exhibits various art masterpieces, predominantly from Dutch masters, as well as around a dozen Da Vinci’s. You can also see treasures from the personal collections of Russian families and tzars like Peter the Great.
Oh, and let’s not forget the Faberge eggs’ collection.
The Hermitage also has prehistoric art on display.
Admittedly, this list of five museums is not in any way comprehensive, as there are runners up that are worth visiting as well. If you have the money and the time, you should also visit:
* The Uffizi Gallery (Italy)
* The Guggenheim (Spain)
* The National Gallery (USA)
* The Smithsonian (USA)
* The Metropolitan Museum of Art (USA)
* The Egyptian Museum (Egypt)
* The Kunsthistorisches Museum (Austria)