Yes, you were pretty much standing under them.

I think I noticed Correggio because of Jupiter and Io in Vienna.

We loved The Frick Collection in NYC.

have you ever been to LegoLand? its cool...

111op, yeah Jupiter & Io is one of Correggio's famous piece. Also beautiful and famous is his Danae in Galleria Borghese in Rome

have you ever been to LegoLand? its cool...

Please Gary, restrict your comments to the Old Masters Leggo Collection. Some people.

I love the way modern art is redefined around the world. In Libya it starts around 500AD, in Italy it post 1500, in Germany I guess really 1920s+ while in the states what do you think 1950+?

Galleries and museums, and I can so seldom seperate them, I like the second half of the Uffizi (once you get past the Tudor fixer by Holbein though you could burn the earlier half for me) the Louvre not so good unlike the Musee d'Orsay. Charles Renee Mackintosh in Glasgow, the Pink house in Lisbon, Kroeller Muller in Netherlands, Madrid as a whole and Reina Sofia especially, MAC in vienna, the paper museum in Mullhouse,

Speaking about art, there's an interesting little news today.

The Italians want their Mona Lisa back. hahahaha....never gonna happen. The Louvre owns their Leonardo's pieces legitimately. Obviously the Italians don't even know their own art history

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...e-8117931.html

Yes there are still many masterpieces in the Louvre not returned to Italy after Napoleon stole them, but the Mona Lisa and other Leonardos are not one of those stolen masterpieces.

Here the ones that should petition to have them returned
- The gigantic Veronese's Marriage at Cana
- San Zeno's predellas by Mantegna. One of them is the Louvre, The Crucifixion. Two other are in the museum in Tours. After the Napoleon defeat, the French were so scared that they ordered their troops to scatter and hide the masterpieces all over France
- And my favorite, this beautiful Mantegna's Madonna of Victory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_della_Vittoria
Last time, I checked her, she sat alone, neglected, unnooticed by people who rushed to the Mona Lisa. sad

I also love the Ambrosiana in Milan, vespacurves. It is such a jewel.

My other fave museums, just based on setting and my preference in art: just places I enjoy the most going to that exceeded my expectations,

Sistine Chapel
Musee d'Orsay
Huntington Library in Pasadena
Rijksmuseum
Victoria and Albert

I have been to many of the others but they just met but didn't exceed my expectations.

The Italians want their Mona Lisa back. hahahaha....never gonna happen. The Louvre owns their Leonardo's pieces legitimately. Obviously the Italians don't even know their own art history
_____

As the sole repository of all things art great and small, you should know that over the past thirty years or so, countries have asked and some have demanded that their antiquities and art be returned to the country of origin. Even when the provenance is not in question.

Requests for the restoration of a country's and individual's artistic and emotional statements of their heritage, history, and culture should be more that a laughable claim and a source of arrogance, especially for an autodidactic dilettante.

So here's Best of the Rest for Old Master Collection

Belgium
Groeninge Museum, Bruges

France
Musee Jacquemart-Andre, Paris
Musee Conde, Chantily
Musee des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg

Germany
Stadel Museum, Frankfurt
Staaliche Museen, Kassel
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne

Hungary
Szepmuveszeti Museum, Budapest

Italy
Galleria Sabauda, Turin
Galleria Nazionale di Parma, Parma
Galleria Nazionale della Marche, Urbino
Galleria Nazionale delle Umbria, Perugia
Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Barberini-Corsini, Rome
Pinacoteca di Bologna, Bologna
Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome
Foundazione Magnani-Rocca, Parma
Museo Poldi-Pezzoli, Milan
Museo di San Marco, Florence
Castello Sforzesca, Milan (one of the most beautiful Andre Mantegna is here)
Palazzo Ducale, Venice (They have the only Hieronymus bosch paintings in Italy, 4 of them)
Musei di Via Garibaldi, Genoa (excellent Northern Renaissance collection in Italy)
Museo Correr, Venice (one of the best Antonello da Messina is here, but damaged)

Best of the Rest continue....


The Netherland
Mauritshuis - Hague

Spain
Museo Thyssen-Bornesmisza, Madrid

UK
Wallace Collection, London
Royal Collection, windsor/Hampton
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

USA
Frick Collection, NYC
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Isabella Stewart Gardner, Boston
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

So that's my list of museums with excellent Old Master Collection. If you like Old Masters, I highly recommend these 50 or so art galleries.

But there are still excellent, monumental pieces in churches scattered around Italy. I'll come up with some list next time

gary - Leggo my ego, eh!

...they have a Mona Lisa made out of Legos...

it was better than the Mona Lisa made out of cupcakes...

Someone asked where the Venus de Milo came from...

The Venus de Milo and cupcakes - all in one thread? Good question, foodor, but see what you have started?

I have no particular period nor geographic preference, not being an art major nor having had anything to do with art.

However, I've been to many a museum around the world - don't have favorites.

later this year, I'm going to visit the Barnes (Philadelphia) in its new location. Saw the collection while it was in Merion. Also will visit the Baltimore Art Museum, especially for the Cone sisters' collection, again and maybe try to fit in the Walters as well.

I'm glad someone mentioned the National Museum in Budapest, it's got an awesome collection. However, no one has mentioned the museums in Istanbul - or the great museum in Teheran (I love Persian miniatures) 0r ....or...or...

Here on the West Coast, I really like the Norton Simon in Pasadena, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the unique Cartoon Museum, also in San Francisco.

Too many museums to mention.

hi easytraveler,

We're talking about art museums here. I too enjoy other mediums or era or pieces from other regions, it's just European Old Masters what I understood and studied most.

I like Oriental Arts too, especially old Chinese and Japanese paintings. I love Tokyo National Museum.

Persian Miniatures? that's new to me, sounds interesting, I'll check it out

I don't know Persian miniatures, but the Bactrian Princesses are all the rage at Documenta in Kassel this year:

http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notic...male-statuette

I've included a link from the Louvre as the link from Documenta doesn't seem to work very well.

The Louvre site says "Department of Iran," but I thought the ones exhibited in Kassel were Afghani (?).

Surprise addition for Old Masters (with an emphasis on Rubens): Ringling Museum in Sarasota, FL.

I am partial to small museums; among my perennial favorites for Old World Masters is the Frick in NYC and the Borghese in Rome. When I visit the larger museums, to avoid being overwhelmed I make a quick sweep through whatever highlights strike my fancy, and then focus on the special exhibits.

111op, thanks for the link. that statue looks cute. I tried to find out the size just for the context, but I can't find the information anywhere

hi PugTraveler, yes Rubens is one of the famous Baroque masters. Though I have to admit, I unfairly gave him the least attention out of all the Baroque masters at his level (Caravaggio, Velazquez, Rembrandt, and Vermeer)

Hi f, they are very small.

The Louvre link says they're generally 8-14 cm in height, which sounds about right. Just a few inches.

I think it will be interesting to have a companion thread that describes the favorite art experiences *outside* of a museum.