Visit Italian Museums from Your Home
When I’ve dreamt about what I would do with more time on my hands, I’ve thought about exercising more, reading the classics, and taking in the local culture. Little did I know that the COVID-19 pandemic would give me more time than I know what to do with. But I can only leave my house to go to the grocery store.
Travel is restricted and museums are closed. But technology allows us to explore the world outside of our own walls, even when we can’t actually leave them. These six world-class Italian museums offer virtual tours so we can enjoy them from home.
6 Virtual Tours of Italian Museums
1. Musei Vaticani
The Vatican Museums host some of the world’s most impressive art collections. Pope Julius II started the museums in the 16th century. They have since grown to include 26 different sections. Housed in the Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano, the artwork spans more than four miles of hallways and galleries. (1, 2)
Perhaps the Vatican Museums’ most famous attraction is Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. You can view the chapel and the museums’ other collections through 360° tours on their website. (1, 2, 3)
2. The Uffizi Gallery
The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is one of Italy’s most popular museums. It was built in 1560 by Cosimo de’Medici as government offices. Gradually, the top floor of the building filled up with the Medicis’ collection of artwork and artifacts. The family gave the collection to Florence in 1743, with the stipulation that it would never leave the city. (1, 4, 5)
Today, the Uffizi Gallery houses the world’s most impressive Italian Renaissance art collection. Botticelli’s masterpieces have their own dedicated room. And the rest of the museum is filled with pieces by Italian artists such as Giotto, Filippo Lippi, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo, Raffaello, and Michelangelo. (1, 4, 5)
The Uffizi Gallery’s website offers two ways to virtually tour the museum. Their HyperVisions allow guests to virtually walk through their collections. And the museum’s new Digital Archive lets you get up close and personal with any piece of art that you want to learn more about. (6, 7)
3. The Capitoline Museums
The Capitoline Museums, thought to be the first public museum, are housed in two buildings but considered one museum. The buildings themselves are just as much of a draw as the art collection. They are part of the Piazza del Campidoglio, which was created by Michaelangelo Buonarroti. (8)
Pope Sixtus IV created the museum in 1471 when he gave a collection of bronze statues to the people of Rome. Since then, the museums have grown to include medieval and Renaissance art, marble and bronze statues, and frescoes. Tour the museum virtually on their website. (8, 9)
4. Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte
The Capodimonte Museum near Naples is home to 47,000 works of medieval, early modern, modern, and contemporary art. The museum’s vast collection of art includes pieces from Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian, and Botticelli. (10)
Besides the artwork, people visit the Capodimonte museum for its adjacent park. The Royal Park of Capodimonte covers 300 acres and includes 400 plant species. You can tour both the museum and park virtually through a partnership with Google Arts & Culture. (10)
5. Pinacoteca di Brera
The Brera Art Gallery, founded in 1809 by Napoleon I, shares a home with Milan’s Academy of Fine Arts. Its collection is centered around Italian works from the 15th to 18th centuries. Pinacoteca’s website offers visitors the opportunity to virtually view more than 600 of its pieces of art. (11, 12)
6. Trajan’s Market and the Museum of Imperial Forums
Trajan’s Market is a complex of buildings constructed in the second century during Trajan’s reign. Now ruins, the ancient complex is an archaeological site and tourist attraction in Rome. It is also the site of the Museum of Imperial Forums. (13)
The other museums on this list are dedicated to artwork. But the Museum of Imperial Forums focuses on the history and architecture of the ancient site where it stands. It is considered an archaeological site museum where visitors can view artifacts in the same place where they were found. You can access a virtual tour of this unique museum on its website. (13, 14)
Although your physical movements may currently be limited, you can still use your extra time to explore and enrich your life. Visit any or all of these Italian museums to take a virtual vacation from your couch.
