Skip to content

Art Museums in South Europe

BULGARY

National Gallery for Foreign Art, Sofia – Houses a good selection of European paintings, including works by Renoir and Chagall, in addition to Asian, African and contemporary Art

CROATIA

Archaeological Museum, Zagreb – Contains thousands of pieces from many cultures, including Egyptian sculptures, Etruscan artifacts and the famous “Zagreb Mummy”

Mimara Museum, Zagreb – A quite complete Museum of Art, with works from the Prehistoric period to contemporary Art. Exhibits works by Velázquez, Raffaello and Renoir, among others

FRANCE

Louvre Museum, Paris – Arguably the world’s most famous Museum. Take an online tour through its wonderful collection of antiquities and European painting, including Leonardo’s Gioconda

Museé d’Orsay, Paris – Without doubt the best museum of impressionist and 19th century French painting in the world. Features masterworks from Monet, van Gogh, Renoir, Degas…

Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris – France’s national museum for modern and contemporary Art, housed in an important contemporary building by Rogers and Renzo Piano

Musée Rodin, Paris – Open in 1919 in Hôtel Biron, houses the world’s most complete collection of sculptures by Auguste Rodin, including “The Kiss” and “The Thinker”

Musée Picasso, Paris – The world’s greatest collection of works by Pablo Picasso, also exhibits important paintings by Cézanne, Degas and Rousseau, and some pieces of primitive Art

Musée Marmottan-Monet, Paris – Houses a small but important collection of Impressionist works (mostly by Claude Monet) and a good selection of illuminated manuscripts

Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris – Located in the Place de la Concorde, exhibits an important collection of Impressionist works, including several examples of Monet’s series of “Nympheas”

Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris – This historical building at the Boulevard Haussmann houses a fine collection of Western paintings, including Paolo Ucello’s “Saint George and the Dragon”

Musée Guimet, Paris – Widely regarded as one of the most important collections of Asian Art outside Asia, this famous Museum was transferred to Paris in 1885

Musée du Quai Branly, Paris – This new museum (opened in 2006) is France’s national museum to African, American, Oceanian and Asian Art

Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence – An interesting collection of European painting, including a very good selection of works by Paul Cézanne

Musee des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux – Its collections include works by artists like Brueghel, Rubens, Delacroix or Matisse

Musee des Beaux-Arts, Caen – An important collection of European painting and sculpture, with works by van der Weyden, Tintoretto, Poussin or Courbet

Musee d’Unterlinden, Colmar – Housed in a former convent dating back to the 13th century, exhibits an important group of paintings and sculptures from the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, but also impressionist and contemporary art

Musée des Beaux-Arts André Malraux, Le Havre – Considered one of the best collections of Impressionist Art in France, with works by Monet, Renoir, Degas, Sisley or Delacroix

Musée de Grenoble, Grenoble – Exhibits works by Rubens or De la Tour, among others, and it also houses a good ‘sculpture park’

Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille – It houses a quite large collection of European painting, with masterworks like Monet’s ‘Le Parlement de Londres’

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon – One of the largest art collections in France, including Egyptian antiquities, paintings by artists such as Rubens, Monet or Picasso, and others objets d’art

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille – A good collection of European Art, with paintings by Jordaens, Courbet, Corot…

Musée Fabre, Montpellier – Founded in 1825, this recently renovated museum houses an important collection of European painting, with works by Poussin, David, Rubens, Delacroix or Bazille

Matisse Museum, Nice – Exhibits a large collection of works by the artist, either paintings (L’Odalisque au coffret rouge) and sculptures (Nu de dos)

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen – Houses a good collection of European painting, including Géricault, Delacroix, Corot, Gustave Moreau, Degas or Monet

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg – One of the best collections of European painting in France, from Giotto and Botticelli to Courbet and Corot

GREECE

National Archaeological Museum, Athens – One of the most important archaeological museums in the world, exhibiting a collection of works from many archaeological sites around Athens

Acropolis Museum, Athens – This recent Museum (established in 2008) exhibits artifacts related to the Acropolis Hill in a large building by Bernard Tschumi

State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki – Founded in 1997, is one of the most prominent foundations exhibiting modern and contemporary art in Greece

HUNGARY

Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest – This large museum houses an interesting collection of Egyptian antiquities, classical sculptures and European paintings, including Raphael, Velázquez and Goya

ITALY

Vatican Museums, Vatican City – houses the immense collections of the Catholic Church, with works such as the Sistine Chapel and Raphael’s “School of Athens”.

Galleria Borghese, Rome – Houses an interesting collection of antiquities, Italian paintings and sculptures, including an outstanding group of works by Bernini

Capitoline Museums, Rome – A group of Art and archaeological Museums in Rome, with a large collection of antiquities and Italian sculptures, including Bernini’s “Medusa”

Galleria Doria Pamphili, Rome – One of the most important private buildings in Italy, houses and important collection of Art, including Velázquez’s “Portrait of Inocencio X”

MACRO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma, Rome – The most important space devoted to contemporary art in Rome

Pinacoteca Civica Francesco Podesti, Ancona – A good collection of old master paintings, including Titian and Sebastano del Piombo

Accademia Carrara, Bergamo – Exhibits works by Bellini, Bassano, Canaletto, and Rubens, among others

Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence – The most important collection of Italian Renaissance painting. In this excellent website you can works such as Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” or Giotto’s Ognisanti Madonna.

Palazzo Pitti, Florence – An impressive Renaissance palace exhibiting a large collection of Italian old masters paintings and porcelain and silver artifacts

Pinacoteca di Brera, Milano – Houses a small but highly important collection of Italian painting, including Raphael’s famous “The marriage of the Virgin” and Mantegna’s “Dead Christ”

Castello Sforzesco, Milano – This historical 15th century building, once owned by Francesco Sforza, exhibits works by Leonardo, Michelangelo and Mantegna, among many others

Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milano – One of the finest collections of old master paintings in Italy, including works by Piero della Francesca, Mantegna or Botticelli

Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milano – A spectacular collection of Italian painting, including ‘Portrait of a musician’ by Leonardo, or Caravaggio’s ‘Basket of fruit’

Museo di Capodimonti, Naples – A large palace housing a collection of paintings from the 13th to the 18th century (Raphael, Titian, Martini) as well as 18th century furniture

National Archaeological Museum, Naples – A very important collection of classical antiquities, including works from the archaeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, Perugia – Its collections of early Italian painting include Duccio’s ‘Madonna dei domenicani’ and works by Perugino

Museo Egizio, Turin – Widely considered as one of the most important collections of Egyptian antiquities outside Egypt, the Museum exhibits the Temple of Tuthmosi III

Galleria Sabauda, Turin – A good collection of early European painting, exhibits works by Mantegna, Van Eyck and Rembrandt, among others

Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice– Arguably the best collection of modern and contemporary art in Italy, includes works by Picasso, Rothko or Pollock

Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice– A very good collection of Italian painting, with works by Titian, Mantegna or Carpaccio

Museo Ca’ Pesaro, Venice– An important collection of modern Art, this museum exhibits works by Matisse, Klimt or Chagall

LIECHTENSTEIN

Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz – Opened in 2000, this museum houses a good collection of modern and contemporary Art, and some works from the collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein

PORTUGAL

National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon – Houses a great collection of Portuguese painting, and also exhibits works by Dürer, Bosch, Velázquez and Raphael, among others

Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon – Exhibits the Art collection of Portuguese philanthropist Calouste Gulbenkian, with a good collection of antiquities and European paintings

Serralves Foundation Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto – An interesting collection of contemporary art, including works by Sigmar Polke or Matta-Clark

ROMANIA

National Museum of Art, Bucarest – Houses the greatest collection of Romanian Art in the world (including works by Brancusi) along with a good selection of European paintings

SERBIA

National Museum of Serbia, Belgrade – Founded in 1844, it is Serbia’s greatest museum, exhibiting more than 400,000 objects from different cultures and periods

Museum of contemporary Art, Belgrade – Established in 1958, this gallery exhibits more than 30,000 contemporary works, mostly by Serbian artists

Museum of African Art, Belgrade – Founded in 1977, it represents the only museum in the country dedicated to the arts and culture of Africa

SLOVENIA

National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana – A quite good collection of European painting, including Jordaens and modern Slovenian painters

SPAIN

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid – The Prado Museum is Spain’s most important museum, featuring the best collection of Spanish painting in the world.

Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid – Spain’s national Museum of modern and contemporary Art, well known for exhibiting Picasso’s masterpiece, “Guernica”

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid – houses one of the finest private collection of Western painting ever collected, from Duccio to the German Expressionist and the American Pop Art.

Museo Arqueológico (Archaeological Museum), Madrid – The most important collection of Ancient Art in Spain, including the “Dama de Elche”, an important Iberian figure of a woman

Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid – A surprising museum exhibiting masterpieces by Goya (“Aquelarre”), El Greco or Hieronymus Bosch

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), Barcelona – houses a very complete collection of Spanish and Catalonian painting, being especially remarkable its collection of Romanesque art.

Museo de Arte contemporáneo de Barcelona (MACBA), Barcelona – a quite recent collection of contemporary Art exhibited in a famous building by Richard Meier

Fundació Miró, Barcelona – the best collection of works by Joan Miró in the world, also housing interesting exhibitions of contemporary Art

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao – A good collection of contemporary Art, housed in a building by Frank Gehry. The most famous piece is “Puppy”, a sculpture of a dog by Jeff Koons

Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao – An interesting collection of European painting, from early works by El Greco or Zurbarán, to Tapies and Barceló

Museo Picasso, Malaga – One of the most important collections of works by Pablo Picasso in the world, housed in his birthplace, Málaga

Centro Galego de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago – This beautiful building by Álvaro Siza is the most important center of contemporary art in Galicia

Museo de Bellas Artes, Sevilla – a very good collection of Spanish old masters paintings, with nice paintings by Velázquez and Ribera

Museum of Fine Arts, Valencia – A quite diverse collection that includes early paleochristian works of art, sculptures and paintings by El Greco or Ribalta

Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM), Valencia – An interesting collection of contemporary Art, including important sculptures by Chillida and Julio González

SWITZERLAND

Kunstmuseum, Bern – A very important collection of European painting, including ‘Maestà’ by Duccio di Buoninsegna, and works by Manet, Cézanne, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir or van Gogh

Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern – Opened in 2005, the Museum is devoted to the life and works of expressionist painter Paul Klee (1879–1940)

Beyeler Foundation, Basel – This small but rich museum exhibits the art collection of Hildy and Ernst Beyeler, with works by van Gogh, Monet, Cézanne, Picasso, Bacon and Warhol, among others

Kunstmuseum, Basel – Houses an important collection of Dutch and Flemish old masters paintings, and a good collection of impressionist and modern paintings

Musees Barbier-Mueller, Geneva – A collection of over 7,000 works of art from Tribal and Classical Antiquity, considered one of the finest in the world

Musee d’art moderne et contemporain (MAMCO), Geneva – Includes works by artists such as Christo and Gordon Matta-Clark

Oskar Reinhart Collection, Winterthur – Owns a good collection of old masters, and an excellent group of impressionist paintings (Cézanne, van Gogh, Monet…)

Kunsthaus, Zurich – A good collection of European paintings from many eras, including impressionist masterpieces by Monet (“Irises”), Gauguin, Cézanne (“Montagne Sainte-Victoire”) or van Gogh

Foundation E.G. Bührle, Zürich – Exhibits a very good collection of impressionist and modern paintings (van Gogh, Cézanne, Gauguin…) and a small group of old masters paintings

TURKEY

Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara – Exhibits an impressive collection of Near Eastern and Greek antiquities from the Paleolithic to the first millenium

Archaeology Museum, Istanbul – A 19th century building comprising three museums: the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Ancient Orient and the Museum of Islamic Art

Follow us on:

Art Museums in South Europe