How much do we miss art and exhibitions these days? Quite a lot. Art lovers can, however, continue to visit museums and galleries around the world thanks to the internet and social media.
For many people, art is one of life's great joys, and as such we miss it tremendously during these unusual times — though the impossibility of physically visiting the world's museums need not prevent us from exploring them all the same, thanks to new forms of communication. A great many museum venues around the world now make it possible to experience them from a distance. Let's discover our 10 favourites, plus one entirely virtual museum that is truly extraordinary.
Musei civici di Venezia
The Foundation, which encompasses no fewer than 12 magnificent museums in Venice, has decided to offer its newsletter subscribers daily stories, curiosities and descriptions of works. A way of staying in touch with what one loves.
Pinacoteca di Brera
The historic Milanese art gallery gives everyone the opportunity to view its works in very high definition: each painting comes with an exhaustive critical profile and all technical information. Truly well done. Try admiring, for example, Cristo alla colonna by Bramante.
Musei capitolini di Rome
An inestimable heritage where, thanks to virtual tours, you can explore the rooms in full screen using the mouse and keyboard, clicking on hotspots placed throughout the spaces and navigating interactive maps. The best of Rome in just a few clicks.
Galleria nazionale dell'Umbria
The magnificent museum in Perugia, which houses the largest and most comprehensive museum collection in the region, with works of art spanning the 13th to the 19th century, offers its followers on social media daily content of the most varied kind, including descriptions of artworks and genuinely fascinating little anecdotes.
Paris Musées
Another tip, especially for those who work with images, is to visit the website of Paris Musées, which brings together no fewer than 14 Parisian museums and has for some time now allowed visitors to download more than 300,000 images by major international artists. All the photographs are open source and accompanied by reasoned captions, and more than 150,000 are also available in high definition. There are no rights attached, so they can be used for any purpose.
National Archaeological Museum of Athens
It is the largest museum in Greece and also the world's richest in terms of Hellenic art, with exhibitions covering the entire history and artistic output of ancient Greece from the Cycladic period through the Mycenaean to the Classical. This paradise for archaeology lovers presents every one of its works in a photographic gallery divided by floor and room, so well organised that you will feel as though you are genuinely walking through the museum.
Museo del Prado, Madrid
For us it is a summa of everything that is marvellous in art, and on its website the Museo del Prado features a timeline showing all the artists it houses and their respective works, viewable in high definition with a critical profile. Extremely useful for students too.
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Albertina, Vienna
One of Vienna's many magnificent museums, it offers its collection online and houses one of the world's largest collections of prints and drawings.
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Thanks to Google Arts & Culture, all four floors of the museum can be visited virtually. The images of works by the most famous Dutch painter are at very high resolution. There are also two in-depth features on Van Gogh's favourite books and on his love life.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Across all three of its different venues — The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer and The Met Cloisters — it is possible to tour virtually thanks to modern technology and thus enjoy one of the most imposing collections in the United States. There are a great many works by major Italian artists.
Museo nazionale
Museo nazionale was a popular radio programme broadcast on Radio3, a book, and it is also a web section of the Rai website that allows you to listen to (or read) descriptions of 150 memorable works of art by internationally renowned critics. In this way, a virtual national museum has been created, made up of themed rooms housing wonderful artistic treasures. Our suggestion is to give yourself the pleasure of discovering it, perhaps "taking" one a day, like a small dose of optimism and beauty. It is worth noting that part of the proceeds from the sale of the volume "Museo nazionale" goes towards the restoration of La Madonna con il Bambino in the church of Santa Maria Assunta in Tossicia (Teramo), a 15th-century terracotta sculpture reduced to fragments by the 2016 earthquake.