Europe's Top 100 Masterpieces: Art for the Traveler

When I left work back in January, right before my foot surgery, I only checked out two books from the library. At that time, I thought I wouldn’t be back for about eight weeks, and I didn’t want to have a lot of overdue books on my account. With two automatic book renewals, I knew I was good for about nine weeks as long as I didn’t check out a bestseller on which folks would be placing holds.

I chose my books carefully. The first was a novel called The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman. I was drawn to it because it’s set in Traverse City. It’s the story of a young woman who quits her fancy job in New York City, working for a famous chef who treats his employees badly, and returns home to her family’s orchard in TC. As the book description reads, “she spends a summer working on her family’s orchard cooking and baking alongside the women in her life—including her mother, Deana, and grandmother, Willo. One beloved, flour-flecked, ink-smeared recipe at a time, Sam begins to learn about and understand the women in her life, her family’s history, and her passion for food through their treasured recipe box.”

I am a librarian who does not know how to write a decent book review, so let me just say I enjoyed The Recipe Box. I loved that it is set in Northern Michigan and loved reading the backstories of all the strong women characters in the book. And it is a love story to boot. I wanted something light-hearted and easy to read while recovering, and it fit the bill nicely.

The other book I checked out was one I had the pleasure to order for my library, and had wanted to read for a while, but never took the time to do so. It turns out I had plenty of time to read Europe’s Top 100 Masterpieces: Art for the Traveler by Rick Steves & Gene Openshaw while rehabbing following surgery. Who knew eight weeks would turn into five months staying home?

Are you familiar with author Rick Steves? For over thirty years, Steves has run a travel company that takes thousands of folks on tours in Europe each year, as well as publishing great guide books for European travelers. Oh yes, and he has a travel show on PBS. He’s a very busy man who loves to share his love of Europe with others.

His travel books offer practical advice for traveling on your own or as supplemental information if you are traveling on one of his tours. Or, as they put it on their website, their travel guides “inspire, inform, and equip Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening.” Our library has carried his books in our travel section for years and update with the new releases each year. We also have many of his PBS show videos in our non-fiction DVD collection.

I love to travel as well and have been very lucky to have taken several Rick Steves tours over the past twelve years. I have seen a lot of art on these tours. I always travel with one of my daughters, and we love to walk around museums, guide book in hand, and read what Rick has to say about the art. He makes some pretty funny comments about notable and or infamous pieces. His books also tell you the best times to hit a museum to avoid crowds, how to move around a museum in an efficient manner to make sure you see all the important pieces, and which ones not to bother with if your time is limited.

Which brings me back to Rick’s book about the top 100 masterpieces of Europe. I thought it would be fun to dig back through my pictures from trips past and see how many I’ve visited, sharing with you the ones I have seen. Of course, you aren’t always allowed to photograph the art in some museums, but let’s see which ones I do have. Here we go!

>Chapter One: Prehistory. Europe’s first artists were already hard at work 30,000 years ago carving tiny statues and painting on the walls of caves. The primeval art produced so many years ago has lived on and continues to influence art to this day.

Venuses Through History. I’ve seen four of the seven Venuses mentioned and have pictures of three of them.

At the Louvre Museum, in Paris: Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa. Do I really have to tell you who these two are? Well, maybe I should. Venus de Milo, the goddess of love, from the Greek island of Milos, was sculpted in 100 B.C. She was discovered in 1820 by a Greek farmer, but her arms have never been located.

Mona Lisa is, according to Rick Steves, our world's most famous painting. She sits alone behind bullet-proof glass, mobbed by six million tourists each year. Pictured above are but a few of them. Leonardo da Vinci started painting Mona in 1506. He tweaked the painting for years, and it was really only "finished" with da Vinci's death.

At the Uffizi Gallery, in Florence: The Birth of Venus. The goddess of love and beauty, she was painted by Sandro Botticelli in 1485. Pictured with my own personal Venus, daughter Janelle. 😊

>Chapter Two: Ancient Greece. Although these masterpieces were created in Athens thousands of years ago, today, some of them can now be found in other countries around the world. My first Rick Steves tour was to Greece in 2008. This was the trip that got me hooked on travel. My travel companion for this trip was daughter Laura.

This isn’t the best picture, but at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens I saw Artemision Bronze. It could be either Zeus or Poseidon. Experts cannot agree on which Greek god it is. Circa 460 BC.

The Parthenon, perched on top of the Acropolis in Athens. With my own lovely Greek goddess, Laura. 😊 Built in the fifth century BC using 100,000 tons of the finest white marble, it is dedicated to the goddess Athena, the patron of Athens.

Apollo Belvedere, now found in the Vatican Museums in Rome. He is the Greek god of the sun and of music and is considered by some the most perfect work of art in the world. Circa AD 130.

Winged Victory of Samothrace. This armless and headless statue of Nike now is found at the Louvre Museum, Paris. Circa 190 BC.

Laocoon. A man and his two sons wrestle with snakes. This statue was lost for a thousand years until it was unearthed in Rome in 1506. Now found in the Vatican Museums, Rome. Circa first century BC.

>Chapter Three: Ancient Rome. In a nutshell, classical Rome lasted for a thousand years, from 500 BC to AD 500.

Roman Colosseum. For nearly 2000 years, the Colosseum has been the enduring symbol of Rome—the Eternal City. Circa AD 80.

Roman Pantheon. The soaring roof of the Pantheon might be the most influential dome in art history. The sunroof in the top of the dome is the building’s only light source. Circa AD 120.

>Chapter Three: Medieval Era. These “Middle Ages” lasted from about 500 to 1500. The first half is often called the Dark Ages.

Book of Kells—Christ Enthroned. This picture of Christ is just one page of the 1,200-year-old gospels known as the Book of Kells. This is a photo I got from the internet as the rare artifact, created by scholarly Irish monks, cannot be photographed. Not to mention I couldn't hardly get near it due to all the tourists! Visited at the Trinity Old Library, Dublin.

I was able to take plenty of photos of the Long Room in Trinity Old Library. This room resembles the library used in the filming of the Harry Potter movies.

Florence Baptistry’s Hell. The Last Judgement mosaic dominates the walls of the Baptistry in Florence, Italy. Its octagonal dome is covered with golden mosaics of angels and Bible scenes. Circa 13th century.

I did not photograph the actual mosaic of Hell. Not something I cared to revisit later.

Bayeux Tapestry. This skinny, 70-yard-long strip of cloth is like a graphic novel in tapestry. Located at its own museum in Bayeux, France, this city is just a short drive from Normandy and the beaches of D-Day. Circa 1070.

Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral. I am very glad I was able to see this grand cathedral before the fire last spring that damaged a great deal of it. It was built between the years 1163 to 1345.

Sainte-Chapelle. There are more than 1,000 different scenes of Christianity depicted on the amazing stained-glass windows in this cathedral of glass in Paris. It was built in only six years, (1242-1248) while Notre-Dame, just a few steps away, took 200 years.

>Chapter Four: Renaissance. Renaissance means rebirth. It began in Italy with the likes of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, but it spread across Europe for over a century.

Ghiberti’s Bronze Doors. Many believe that the contest to design bronze doors for the Florence Baptistry kicked off the Renaissance. The winner was Lorenzo Ghiberti. The mini-head on the left, popping out in the middle strip, is a self-portrait of Ghiberti. Circa 1425-1452.

The actual competition panels of the two finalists, Filippo Brunelleschi (on the left) and Ghiberti, are on display at the Bargello Museum in Florence. The year was 1401.

Brunelleschi’s Dome. Brunelleschi, the loser of the Baptistry door contest, went on to build the dome for the Florence Cathedral or duomo. Started in medieval times, the cathedral remained unfinished until the dome was added. It was based on the Pantheon’s dome and was the largest dome built in a thousand years. Circa 1420-1436.

My daughter, Janelle, took the picture of the dome from the top of the cathedral after climbing up 463 steps. I remained firmly on the ground. Here she is waiting in line to make the climb up.

Donatello’s David. Sculpted by Donatello in around 1440, this was the first freestanding male nude Europe had seen in a thousand years. On display in the Bargello Museum in Florence today, for years it stood in the courtyard of the Medici Palace. A young Michelangelo grew up admiring it…

Michelangelo’s David. And then Michelangelo created his own David. This one though is pure Renaissance: massive, heroic in size, and superhuman in strength and power. There’s Janelle, just hanging with David, at the Accademia Gallery in Florence. Circa 1504.

Leonardo’s Last Supper. This masterpiece decorates one entire end of a former monastery dining hall in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in Milan, Italy. Because of the painting technique Leonardo da Vinci used in 1498, the Last Supper is not in good condition. To protect it from humidity, only 30 visitors are allowed in every 15 minutes for exactly 15 minutes.

Funny story, I was so excited to see The Last Supper I forgot to take my sunglasses off before entering the room. So, I viewed one of the most famous, important paintings in the world in a diminished capacity. I kept thinking, wow, they really keep the room dark to protect the painting. I was very disheartened when I realized my mistake. Not one of my brightest moments.

No picture taking allowed, so the pictures I’m presenting are from signage for the exhibit.

Michelangelo’s Pieta. This is the statue that made Michelangelo famous at the young age of 24! It was delicately carved from Carrara marble, one of the hardest of stones. Sadly, it was damaged in 1972 by a madman with a hammer. Meant to be viewed close up to appreciate it’s beauty, it now sits behind bullet proof glass and is viewed from a distance, inside St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. Circa 1499.

Raphael’s School of Athens. Raphael was just 25-years-old when he began painting this fresco in the Papal apartments in the Vatican. With Plato and Aristotle in the center, Raphael imagines all the great scientists and philosophers from the ancient world gathered together in kind of a rock and roll heaven. Circa 1511.

Titian’s Venus of Urbino. Another Venus, this one by Titian of Venice who was possibly more famous than Michelangelo back in the day. When this painting was first displayed in 1736 at the Uffizi in Florence, it had to be secretly kept behind a more modest painting. Circa 1534.

>Chapter Five: Baroque Era. The Baroque style mean drama, bright colors, large canvases, lots of flesh, and pudgy winged babies; 17th and 18th century. I have not seen a lot of Baroque art. But I have visited it’s two greatest sights…

St. Peter’s Basilica. Located within Vatican City, Rome, this church was built on the site of St. Peter’s grave, starting in 1506. Believed to be the largest church in the world, it’s considered the epitome of Baroque. It’s a riot of marble, gold, stucco, mosaics, columns of stone, and pillars of light. Soaring above it all is Michelangelo’s 430-foot-tall dome.

Palace of Versailles. The palace was the official residence of French kings from 1682-1789. Located on the outskirts of Paris, Versailles is everything I always thought it would be and more! Covering over 2,000 acres, Versailles is made up of the main palace and magnificent gardens, several smaller palaces, a theater and the Queen’s hamlet. This private retreat is where Marie Antoinette would go to play “peasant” and relax with her friends. One could spend days and days exploring Versailles; you and the thousands of other tourists who swarm the palace.

>Chapter Six: 19th Century. There were several distinct art styles going on this century: Neoclassical, Romanticism and Impressionism. In addition, the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the camera strongly influenced art during this time. This chapter includes two magnificent landmarks in Paris.

Arc de Triomphe. Napoleon Bonaparte commissioned the Arc to commemorate his 1805 victory at the Battle of Austerlitz. It is the geographical center of Paris’s 12 grand boulevards that radiate out from here in the shape of a star.

While this isn’t a great photo, this was one of my favorite moments of my 2016 visit to Paris. It was the last night of our tour, we had just shared our final group meal together, and our tour guide, Virginie, took us for a short walk into a nearby park. When we had all gathered together, she asked us to turn around, and there was the Arc de Triomphe, all lit up and in its glory. It’s moments like this that make Rick Steves’ tours special: his talented guides making magic moments happen.

David’s Coronation of Napoleon. This is a huge piece of art for a small man. It measures 32 feet long and 20 feet high. The coronation took place at Notre-Dame Cathedral; the art hangs in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Circa 1807.

The Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower was created for the Paris World’s Fair in 1889. It was so popular it just never came down. And today it’s the most visited monument in the world!

The day we were there in late April was very cold and windy; there were even snow flurries. We waited a long time to finally be able to ride the elevator to the top. By the time we got up there we were miserable. We just took our photos and headed back down. Sadly, we were too cold to linger and enjoy the view from the top for very long.

Going up!

And everywhere you go in the city, there it is. 😊

Monet’s Water Lilies. In his seventies, Monet began his water lily project; it would take him 12 years to finish, and he was slowly going blind as he finished. Painted on eight huge curved panels, the water lilies float in two pond-shaped rooms in the Orangerie Museum in Paris.

I have an admission to make: I did not fully appreciate Monet’s water lilies. I walked past these gigantic canvases much too fast to be honest. I didn’t see the beauty in them most others do. C'est dommage. Circa 1914-1926.

We were also lucky enough to travel to Giverny and see the home where Monet lived and painted for years. Here he created his own pond, stocked it with water lilies, built a Japanese bridge over it and surrounded it all with beautiful gardens. This place was gorgeous, and I love visiting it and seeing what inspired his famous water lilies.

Rodin’s Thinker. This larger-than-life statue is bronze and sits in the gardens of the Rodin Museum in Paris. Because Rodin created The Thinker using a mold, he was able to make others; there are 28 other authorized versions around the world. There's the Eiffel Tower again, peeking over the shoulder of the Thinker. Circa 1904.

Van Gogh’s Life in Paintings. I have seen several Van Gogh paintings including this self-portrait at the Orsay Museum in Paris. (Circa 1889.) I have also been to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, which is home to world's largest collection of his works. You are not allowed to take photos at his Amsterdam museum, so all I have to show you from there is this selfie of my daughter Laura and I in front of a copy of one of his sunflower paintings.

>Chapter Seven: 20th Century. Ah, modern art. Expressionism, Abstract, Cubism, Surrealism. I have seen a Picasso or two; I visited the Picasso Museum in Paris. But I have no pictures from that museum that are in the final chapter of this book. In fact, I have not seen any of the other works mentioned in the chapter either. I think it's probably time for me to up my modern art game.

And with that, we have come to the conclusion of my pictures of art masterpieces of Europe. I've been blessed to have been able to travel far and wide and to see all the wonderful art that I have seen. I’ve enjoyed sharing them with you and hope you enjoyed them as well. It’s always fun to relive a vacation and go on a trip down memory lane. I hope to get back to Europe one day, but for now, trips down memory lane will have to do.

Thank you to my daughters, Laura and Janelle, for being wonderful travel buddies. Additionally, I must also thank them for allowing me to use several of their photos for this post. They take great pictures, as well as get a kick out of watching me try to take a selfie.

Stay safe. Be well. Enjoy the hot weather. I’ll be enjoying my AC. 😊

P.S. One quick question. When Janelle and I were in Milan in 2015, we saw a man that I’m pretty sure is the former Tiger baseball player, Magglio Ordonez, having dinner with his family. Anyway, I nonchalantly took a picture of him while I was pretending to take a picture of Janelle. What do you think? Agree or disagree it’s Magglio?