Art museums

Museums ranked by the celebrated works they hold, with the kind of founder behind each.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026 · Wikidata, curated registries

Who built the great collections

Crowns, states, churches, and private fortunes.

State

170

2,398 canon works

Private foundation

132

1,387 canon works

Royal or imperial

1,113 canon works

Private bequest

512 canon works

Church

116 canon works

Corporate

64 canon works

Not yet classified

227

620 canon works

Museums by canon works

Museums that hold at least one canon work. Filter by who founded them.

How this is measured

Founder type comes from the founder, owner or operator recorded in Wikidata. Where none is recorded the museum stays unclassified. Visitor figures are the latest year Wikidata holds, and the year is shown beside each.

Founder

Sort by

Museo del Prado

Madrid · Royal or imperial · 1819 · Las Meninas

362

1.2M visitors

National Gallery

London · State · 1824 · Arnolfini Portrait

342

709K visitors

Louvre Museum

Paris · State · 1793 · Mona Lisa

320

2.8M visitors

Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York · Private foundation · 1870 · The Death of Socrates

285

2.0M visitors

Musée d'Orsay

Paris · State · 1986 · L'Origine du monde

279

1.0M visitors

Hermitage Museum

St. Petersburg · Royal or imperial · 1764 · Benois Madonna

168

1.6M visitors

Uffizi Gallery

Florence · Royal or imperial · 1560 · The Birth of Venus

157

2.2M visitors

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Berlin · State · Bust of Queen Nefertiti

125

canon works

Kunsthistorisches Museum

Vienna · Royal or imperial · 1891 · The Hunters in the Snow

106

579K visitors

Van Gogh Museum

Amsterdam · Private foundation · 1973 · The Potato Eaters

104

366K visitors

Bavarian State Painting Collections

Munich · State · 1799 · Madonna of the Carnation

100

1.1M visitors

Vatican Museums

Vatican City · Church · 1506 · The School of Athens

1.6M visitors

#							Top work
1	Museo del Prado	362	Madrid	1819	Royal or imperial	1.2M (2021)	Las Meninas
2	National Gallery	342	London	1824	State	709K (2021)	Arnolfini Portrait
3	Louvre Museum	320	Paris	1793	State	2.8M (2021)	Mona Lisa
4	Metropolitan Museum of Art	285	New York	1870	Private foundation	2.0M (2021)	The Death of Socrates
5	Musée d'Orsay	279	Paris	1986	State	1.0M (2021)	L'Origine du monde
6	Hermitage Museum	168	St. Petersburg	1764	Royal or imperial	1.6M (2021)	Benois Madonna
7	Uffizi Gallery	157	Florence	1560	Royal or imperial	2.2M (2022)	The Birth of Venus
8	Staatliche Museen zu Berlin	125	Berlin	—	State	—	Bust of Queen Nefertiti
9	Kunsthistorisches Museum	106	Vienna	1891	Royal or imperial	579K (2021)	The Hunters in the Snow
10	Van Gogh Museum	104	Amsterdam	1973	Private foundation	366K (2021)	The Potato Eaters
11	Bavarian State Painting Collections	100	Munich	1799	State	1.1M (2016)	Madonna of the Carnation
12	Vatican Museums	78	Vatican City	1506	Church	1.6M (2021)	The School of Athens
13	Museum of Modern Art	77	New York	1929	Private foundation	1.2M (2021)	The Starry Night
14	Art Institute of Chicago	74	Chicago	1879	Private foundation	1.7M (2019)	American Gothic
15	Musée National d'Art Moderne	68	Paris	1947	State	1.5M (2021)	Woman Reading
16	Kröller-Müller Museum	66	Wageningen	1938	Private bequest	307K	Café Terrace at Night
17	Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts	64	Moscow	1912	State	766K (2021)	The Red Vineyard
18	Tretyakov Gallery	55	Moscow	1856	Private bequest	1.6M (2021)	Black Square (1915)
19	Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum	50	Madrid	1992	State	671K (2021)	Saint Catherine of Alexandria
20	Philadelphia Museum of Art	47	Philadelphia	1876	Private foundation	437K (2021)	Les Grandes Baigneuses
21	Rijksmuseum	46	Amsterdam	1800	State	2.4M (2024)	The Milkmaid
22	Civic Museums of Padua	44	Padua-Venice	—	State	124K (2021)	Lamentation
23	Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden	44	Dresden	1560	State	—	Sistine Madonna
24	Museo di Capodimonte	42	Naples	—	State	152K (2024)	The Blind Leading the Blind
25	J. Paul Getty Museum	39	Los Angeles	1974	Private bequest	2.0M (2016)	Irises
26	Museum of Fine Arts Boston	39	Boston	1870	Private foundation	477K (2021)	Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
27	Gallerie dell'Accademia	37	Padua-Venice	1750	Royal or imperial	362K (2022)	The Tempest
28	Russian Museum	36	St. Petersburg	1895	Royal or imperial	2.3M (2021)	Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks
29	São Paulo Museum of Art	34	Sao Paulo	1947	Private foundation	729K (2019)	Resurrection of Christ
30	Barnes Foundation	32	Philadelphia	1922	Private foundation	—	The Models
31	Tokyo National Museum	31	Tokyo	1872	State	605K (2021)	Pine Trees
32	Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon	31	Lyon	1801	State	356K (2017)	The Stoning of Saint Stephen
33	Museu Picasso	29	Barcelona	1963	Not yet classified	1.1M (2024)	Science and Charity
34	Royal Collection	29	London	—	Royal or imperial	—	The Music Lesson
35	Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum	28	New York	1937	Private foundation	1.1M (2018)	Landscape with Snow
36	Pinacoteca di Brera	28	Milan	1776	Royal or imperial	397K (2022)	Lamentation of Christ
37	Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris	27	Paris	1902	State	950K (2019)	The Sleepers
38	National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design	27	Oslo	2003	State	603K (2017)	Bridal Procession on the Hardangerfjord
39	British Museum	25	London	1753	State	5.8M (2023)	Portland Vase
40	Statens Museum for Kunst	25	Copenhagen	1896	State	335K (2017)	Alice
41	The Frick Collection	25	New York	1935	Private bequest	330K	Officer and Laughing Girl
42	Munch Museum	24	Oslo	1963	Not yet classified	—	Vampire
43	Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium	24	Brussels	1801	Royal or imperial	—	The Death of Marat
44	Kunstmuseum Den Haag	23	Rotterdam-The Hague	1866	Private foundation	719K (2015)	Victory Boogie Woogie
45	Mauritshuis	23	Rotterdam-The Hague	1822	State	500K (2015)	Girl with a Pearl Earring
46	Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp	23	Antwerp	1810	Royal or imperial	153K (2010)	The People's Census at Bethlehem
47	Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest	23	Budapest	1906	Private foundation	—	The Farmers' Lunch
48	Nationalmuseum	23	Stockholm	1792	State	—	La Grenouillère
49	Städel Museum	23	Frankfurt	1816	Private bequest	—	The Geographer
50	Cleveland Museum of Art	22	Cleveland	1913	Private foundation	410K (2021)	La Vie
51	Musée Fabre	22	Montpellier	1825	Private bequest	213K (2019)	Fallen angel
52	Galleria Borghese	21	Rome	1903	State	544K (2022)	Self-Portrait as Bacchus
53	Belvedere	21	Vienna	1907	Private foundation	343K (2020)	The Kiss
54	Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen	21	Rotterdam-The Hague	1849	Private foundation	252K	The Wayfarer
55	Detroit Institute of Arts	21	Detroit	1885	Private foundation	—	The Nightmare
56	Harvard Art Museums	21	Boston	1895	Corporate	—	Odalisque à l'esclave
57	Hamburger Kunsthalle	19	Hamburg	1868	State	—	Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
58	National Museum in Warsaw	18	Warsaw	1862	State	338K (2015)	Battle of Grunwald
59	Museum of Grenoble	18	Grenoble	1798	State	229K (2019)	The Seine in Argenteuil
60	Scuola Grande di San Rocco	18	Padua-Venice	1527	Private foundation	136K (2022)	Crucifixion
61	Salvador Dalí Museum	18	Tampa	1982	Private foundation	—	Landscape Near Figueras
62	Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille	17	Lille	1809	Royal or imperial	298K (2019)	After Dinner at Ornans
63	Wallraf–Richartz Museum	17	Rhine-Ruhr	1824	Not yet classified	154K (2017)	Marriage of Sisley
64	Victoria and Albert Museum	16	London	1852	State	858K (2021)	Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds
65	Musée Picasso	16	Paris	1985	State	629K (2019)	Massacre in Korea
66	Museum of Fine Arts, Houston	16	Houston	1900	Private foundation	496K (2021)	The Elder Sister
67	Capitoline Museums	16	Rome	1471	Royal or imperial	411K (2022)	Capitoline Wolf
68	Kunsthaus Zürich	16	Zurich	1819	Private foundation	383K (2021)	Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow
69	Fitzwilliam Museum	16	Cambridge	1816	Corporate	364K	The Ancient of Days
70	Condé Museum	16	Paris	1898	Private bequest	221K (2010)	Three Graces
71	Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Besançon	16	Besançon	1694	Not yet classified	105K (2019)	Killing a Deer
72	Lenbachhaus	16	Munich	1891	State	—	Blue Horse I
73	Norton Simon Museum	16	Los Angeles	1942	Private bequest	—	Madonna and Child with the Book
74	Wallace Collection	16	London	1900	Private foundation	—	The Swing
75	Walters Art Museum	16	Washington-Baltimore	1934	Private bequest	—	The Death of Caesar
76	Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya	15	Barcelona	1934	State	838K (2019)	Saint Peter and Saint Paul
77	Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla	15	Seville	1835	Not yet classified	178K	Portrait of Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli
78	Courtauld Gallery	15	London	1932	Private bequest	—	A Bar at the Folies-Bergère
79	Kimbell Art Museum	15	Dallas	1972	Private foundation	—	The Cardsharps
80	Musée Marmottan Monet	15	Paris	1934	Corporate	—	Impression, Sunrise
81	The Palace Museum	15	Beijing	1420	State	—	Bunian Tu
82	Israel Museum	14	Jerusalem	1965	Private foundation	750K (2016)	Unique Forms of Continuity in Space
83	National Gallery Prague	14	Prague	1796	State	555K (2025)	Feast of the Rosary
84	Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica	14	Rome	1893	State	192K (2022)	La fornarina
85	Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection	14	Zurich	1960	Private bequest	—	Le Suicidé
86	Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando	14	Madrid	1752	Royal or imperial	—	The Clothed Maja
87	Fundació Joan Miró	13	Barcelona	1975	Private foundation	353K (2018)	The Hope of a Condemned Man
88	Finnish National Gallery	13	Helsinki	2014	State	—	The Wounded Angel
89	Kunstmuseum Basel	13	Basel	1661	Not yet classified	—	The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb
90	Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía	12	Madrid	1992	Royal or imperial	1.6M (2021)	Guernica
91	Dalí Theatre and Museum	12	Figueres	1974	State	1.1M (2018)	Galatea of the Spheres
92	National Archaeological Museum of Athens	12	Athens	1829	State	594K (2018)	Artemision Bronze
93	Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek	12	Copenhagen	1882	Private foundation	515K (2019)	The Absinthe Drinker
94	Walker Art Gallery	12	Liverpool	1877	Private bequest	338K	Echo and Narcissus
95	Saint Louis Art Museum	12	St. Louis	1909	Not yet classified	321K (2021)	Danaë
96	National Gallery of Canada	12	Ottawa	1880	State	237K (2014)	The Death of General Wolfe
97	Bargello National Museum	12	Florence	1865	State	189K (2022)	David
98	Museum Ingres Bourdelle	12	Toulouse	1854	Not yet classified	11K (2019)	Hercules the Archer
99	Buffalo AKG Art Museum	12	Buffalo	1905	Private foundation	—	The Yellow Christ
100	Clark Art Institute	12	Pittsfield	1955	Private bequest	—	Nymphs and Satyr

Where these numbers come from

Wikidata (CC0). Museums are placed in the metro whose boundary holds them.

Definitions and limits are on the Method page