7 Romantic Museums for Lovers

Explore from Venice to New York

By Google Arts & Culture

Picasso Museum, Antibes, France

Gleaming white stones of the Château Grimaldi in the Mediterranean town of Antibes, France. On the Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice. For six months, Pablo Picasso and his lover Françoise Gilot lived here, entertaining friends between bouts of passionate painting.

While you're here, why not take in the picturesque market stalls and street dining of this beautiful town. Antibes was originally founded by the Greeks and developed by the Romans, but it owes many of its buildings to King Louis XV 'The Beloved'.

Ca' Rezzonico, Venice, Italy

In Venice, the city of love, you'll find the Ca' Rezzonico, a former Baroque palace turned museum, dedicated to the salacious history of the 18th century, when Casanova raked from balcony to balcony, leaving exhausted courtesans in his wake.

Inside are grand ballrooms and paintings by Venetian masters Francesco Guardi and Giambattista Tiepolo. On this floor you'll also find the Salon of the Allegory, a room decorated by Tiepolo to commemorate the 1758 marriage of Ludovico Rezzonico Faustina Savorgnan.

Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria

Romance isn't all roses. Some lovers are more forward than others. Egon Schiele is one of those. The Leopold Museum in Vienna holds an enormous collection of works by the enfant terrible. With raw sexuality, and more, on display, you shouldn't be disappointed.

Head upstairs and you'll find even more. The collector Dr. Rudolf Leopold was ridiculed by many of his contemporaries for buying such 'pornographic' work, but thanks to him, we can admire the work of artists including Gustav Klimt, Richard Gerstl, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

The Uffizi, Florence, Italy

Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance, and the perfect city in which to renew your own romance. The city's world-renowned Uffizi gallery is home to many sensual works, including Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and Titian's Venus of Urbino.

If that doesn't sate your appetite, just outside the Ufizzi you'll find the Piazza della Signoria, sporting a reproduction of Michelangelo's hulking nude sculpture of David - with not a fig leaf in sight.

The Frick Collection, New York, USA

"I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world, except possibly for the Polish Rider occasionally and anyway it’s in the Frick, which thank heavens you haven’t gone to yet so we can go together for the first time." So said poet & critic Frank O'Hara.

Perhaps you should take Frank's advice. The Frick is one of the most wonderful buildings in all of New York. And surrounded by all the Bouchers and Fragonards there'll be only one thing on your mind.

Museum of Broken Relationships, Zagreb, Croatia

Alas, not all is meant to be. Time passes and hearts grow apart. Maybe we'll meet once again, in the Museum of Broken Relationships. Founded in 2010, this small museum collects personal objects left by former lovers and the secret confessions of present visitors.

Underwear found under beds… bottles of wine left unopened… even an axe used to destroy a cheating spouse's furniture. Let's hope we don't end up exhibiting here.

Erotic Museum, Amsterdam

Wow, I didn't think you'd stay around this long. But let's be real, I'm here for a good time, not a long time, and I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be than a museum. Amsterdam's Erotic Museum is a must-see for any visitors to this free-spirited city.

Petunia No. 2 (1924) by Georgia O'KeeffeGeorgia O'Keeffe Museum

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The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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