Louvre, Paris

The most visited museum in the world is the French Louvre.The Art Newspaper estimated that 9.33 million people visited the Louvre in 2013.He holds the first place for all six years, during which the publications rating is compiled.

The Louvre was opened to the public in 1793 on the basis of a collection collected by French kings from the 16th century (starting with Francis I).Since then, it has been constantly replenished.The museum is located in the city center on Rivoli Street in the Louvre Palace, which in 1989 was supplemented by a large glass pyramid that serves as the main entrance.Approximately 60 thousand square meters.m of exhibition space showcases about 35 thousand exhibits.There are departments of painting, graphics, sculpture, Egyptian art, Greek, Roman and Oriental antiquities, Islamic art, decorative and applied art.The museum fund reaches 460 thousand objects of art.The Louvre has two branches: in French Lans (opened in 2012) and in Abu Dhabi (scheduled to open in 2015).

The budget of the Louvre is about 400 million. About 50% is covered by the state, the rest of the museum earns itself through tickets, souvenirs;money also comes in the form of donations.There are other sources – for example, in 2006 the museum received $ 2.5 million for permission to film the film The Da Vinci Code in its halls.

A ticket for the permanent exhibition costs 12, temporary exhibitions in the Napoleon Hall 13, and a double ticket costs 16.You can purchase a Paris Museum Pass for up to six days, which gives you access to over 60 of the citys museums (values from 42 to 69).

Among the most successful exhibitions of 2013 are Raphael: The Last Years (58.2 thousand visitors, an average of 4.3 thousand per day) and German painting of 1800-1939 (208.7 thousand people, 2.8 thousand . in a day).

British Museum, London

The main historical and archaeological museum of Great Britain in 2013 attracted 6.7 million visitors.Over the years of his work, attendance has increased more than a thousand times – in the XVIII century it was about 5 thousand people annually.

The museum was created in 1753 on the basis of the collection of the physician and researcher Hans Sloan, which he bequeathed to the nation on condition that 20,000 be paid to his widow. Sloans collection consisted of about 71,000 books, manuscripts and paintings.Now the museum fund, which includes cultural objects from all over the planet, reaches 8 million items, the oldest object is about 2 million years old.The museum building in the classicist style was built in the first half of the 19th century and subsequently expanded.The last 100m renovation was completed by British architect Norman Foster in 2000.The total area of the museum is currently approximately 75 thousand square meters.m.

The British Museum is owned by the state and most members of its governing board are appointed by the prime minister.The entrance is free.Maintenance costs are covered by the state budget only partially.In 2013-2014, the museum received 43.9 million from the Ministry of Culture, almost the same amount was collected through donations, and the museum earned another 24.2 million.

The most popular last year was the exhibition Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, which from March to September 2013 was visited by 471.9 thousand people (2.5 thousand daily).

Metropolitan Museum, New York

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded on April 13, 1870 by a group of businessmen and art connoisseurs, since 1880 it has been located in the eastern corner of New Yorks Central Park.The main building in the neo-Gothic style has significantly increased in size over time: the length of the facade now reaches 400 m (the equivalent of four New York blocks), the total area is 190 thousand square meters.m. In 1938, a branch was also opened in Upper Manhattan – Cloisters, where works of medieval art are collected.The collection is replenished mainly through donations.It all started with a Roman sarcophagus donated by the American vice-consul in Turkish Tarsus, as well as with 74 European paintings from private collections.Now the collection of the Metropolitan has more than 2 million items presented in 17 departments – from ancient Greek art to costume and photography.

Total revenue in fiscal 2013 was $248.2 million. 66% came from the endowment fund and donations, and 15% from ticket sales.The City of New York has allocated $6 million to upgrade the museums infrastructure and also covers utility costs.The Metro does not set a specific entrance fee, there is only a recommended one – $25 for adults, $17 for senior citizens, $12 for students.But everyone can pay what they want.

The greatest interest in 2013 was caused by two exhibitions: Impressionism, fashion and modernity and Matisse: in search of true painting, which attracted 440.97 thousand and 468.57 thousand visitors, respectively (more than 5 thousand per day).Another hit was the exhibition Punk: from chaos to haute couture, which was seen by 442.35 thousand people (4.8 thousand per day).

National Gallery, London

The gallery was founded in 1824.Then the British Parliament bought a collection of 38 paintings by banker John Julius Angerstein for 57 thousand, deciding to make it public.The current museum building, designed by architect William Wilkins, opened in 1838 in central London on Trafalgar Square.Subsequently, additional wings were added to the building, the last expansion was completed in 1991 – since then the museum has occupied 46.4 thousand square meters.m. As noted on its website, this footage can easily accommodate more than 2 thousand double-decker buses.The collection contains more than 2.3 thousand works by Western European artists of the 13th-19th centuries, including Botticelli, Titian, Raphael, Rubens, Monet and Cezanne.The paintings are exhibited in chronological order.

The Museum is an autonomous non-governmental organization, members of the Board of Governors are appointed by the Prime Minister.Total income in the 2012/2013 financial year – 57.5 million, expenses – 31.7 million. A significant part of the funds – 26.3 million – the institution received in the form of a grant from the government.Another important source of income is private donations.The gallery is open to the public 361 days a year and admission to the permanent exhibition is free.

In 2013, the museum did not hold high-profile events.The most popular free exhibition – Michael Landy: Living Saints – attracted 209 thousand visitors (1.1 thousand per day).The most popular paid exhibition is Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure (61.23 thousand people, about 800 per day).

Vatican Museums

This collection began with a collection of sculptures collected by Pope Julius II in the 16th century.The official date of foundation is considered to be 1506, when the sculptural group Laocon and his sons was discovered in Rome – it was installed in the courtyard of one of the Vatican palaces.Successive pontiffs continued to expand the collection and established a number of museums and galleries.The last of these institutions, the Historical Museum, was founded in 1973 by Paul VI.The collection of the Vatican is divided into 25 departments, including the antique collection, museums of Etruscan and Egyptian antiquities, the Pinacoteca with a collection of Renaissance masters and the Sistine Chapel with frescoes by Michelangelo.

You can spend several hours in line at the Vatican Museums during the peak tourist season.The ticket will cost 16, children, students and church ministers pay half the price.Collections from ticket sales and other activities of museums are one of the main sources of income for the budget of the city-state.In particular, it was reported that in 2011 they amounted to 91.3 million. The expenses of the museums themselves were not made public.

Temporary thematic exhibitions are held by the Vatican infrequently.One of the last known is the exhibition of Faberge eggs from the collection of Viktor Vekselberg, opened on Easter 2011 in the Pinakothek.At the same time, measures are being taken to make the core collection more accessible.In particular, the replacement of the air conditioning system in the Sistine Chapel will increase the one-time maximum number of visitors from 700 to 2 thousand people.