50 best works of art in the World?
The World's 50 Best Works of Art (and how to see them)
Sunday Telegraph 8 March 2008
The human race has been making art for thousands of years. Here, in chronological order, critic Martin Gayford chooses his 50 artistic wonders of the world.
1 Sculpture of Khafre (Chephren) (c2800 BC) Cairo Museum Getting there: straightforward
The painter Francis Bacon concluded that the ancient Egyptians were the greatest artists of all. No work supports that judgment better than this sculpture of the Pharaoh Khafre, in black diorite with white veins, his head embraced by the hawk god Horus. It has a concentrated force and presence unequalled over 5,000 years. Direct flights to Cairo, but takes five hours
2 The Hunts of Ashurbanipal Relief sculptures from Nineveh, northern Iraq (c645 BC) British Museum Getting there: easy
Narrative art achieved a fresh level of naturalism in the decorations of Assyrian royal palaces, none more so than those depicting the hunts by the ruler Ashurbanipal. They portray the triumph of the king over beasts such as the lion. But, paradoxically, the dying animals are represented with such delicate observation that it is hard not to see them as poignant victims. British Museum, London WC1; 020 7323 8299
3 Riace Warriors (mid-5th century BC) Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia, Reggio di Calabria, Italy Getting there: straightforward
These two bronze figures, discovered on the seabed in 1972 by an Italian scuba diver, are among the noblest works to survive from ancient Greece. Even more so than the Parthenon Marbles, they embody the Greek conception of humanity - anatomically accurate, but more vigorous and poised than flesh-and-blood mankind. They seem both calm and charged with force. As images of an idealised human race, they are unsurpassed. Direct flight to Lamezia, then 100-mile drive
4 Terracotta Army (c220-210 BC) near Xi'an, China Getting there: difficult
Neither photographs, nor the British Museum exhibition can prepare you for the full army. The dead seem to have marched out of the ground, and are awaiting their next command, rank after rank, all subtly different. Some have been left as they were discovered - toppled, fragmentary, like old photographs from the trenches of 1916. This is a direct encounter with a distant, but still formidable antiquity. Direct flight to Beijing (10 hours), then short internal flight, or rail to Xi'an
5 Altar of Zeus from Pergamon (c175-150 BC) Pergamon Museum, Berlin Getting there: easy
The great Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, on the western coast of modern Turkey, was built by Eumenes II to commemorate his father's victory over the Gauls. The reliefs, now in Berlin, depict the battle of the gods against giants: a combat of order against chaos. They represent, on a spectacularly grand scale, a tragic yet heroic struggle. Two-hour direct flight
6 Nasca Earthworks (100 BC to 500 AD) Nasca Desert, Peru Getting there: hellish
Discovered in the 1920s by aerial reconnaissance, these ancient marks were made by moving the darker pebbles of this arid region to reveal the lighter soil beneath. Too large to be seen in their entirety by those who made them, these are testimony to a belief in the cosmic significance of human acts. Sixteen-hour flight to Lima, changing planes in Madrid, then an internal flight or 200 miles on coast road
7 Murals, Villa of the Mysteries (c60-50 BC), Pompeii Getting there: straightforward
These are the most complete and best preserved set of mural paintings to have come down from classical antiquity, with life-sized figures against a deep red background. The subject matter includes nudity, pagan rites, torture - in fact in these images the Roman era seems quite New Age. 100-minute flight to Naples, then a short hop on the local railway
8 Ajanta murals (2nd century BC-7th century AD), Ajanta Caves, India Getting there: hellish
The most splendid of the cave sanctuaries of Asia. The wall paintings depict scenes from the previous lives of the Lord Buddha. Apart from their religious purpose, they present a panoply of ancient Indian life: ascetics, birds, elephants, kings, dancers, queens and their curvaceous and near-naked handmaidens. A supreme example of the power of art to tell a story. Direct flight to Bombay (eight hours), internal flight to Aurangabad, then three-hour bus ride
9 Obelisk of King Ezana (4th century), Axum, Ethiopia Getting there: difficult
Of uncertain purpose, the great obelisks of Aksum in Ethiopia remain compelling objects. The tallest, that of King Ezana, is 24 metres high and is carved with blank doors and windows. The obelisks, set up by the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Axum, are towering examples of how monumental art can endow a place with power. Ten-hour flight to Addis Ababa, then internal flight (or 350-mile drive north). Check Foreign Office advice (www.fco.gov.uk) for latest security situation
10 Arjuna's Penance, relief sculpture (7th century) Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, India Getting there: bearable
This multitudinous carving is on a whale-backed boulder 100 feet long by 45 feet high. In the centre is a natural cleft in the rock, down which water was originally poured to simulate the descent of the River Ganges. No work so evokes a universe inhabited by gods, elephants, spiritual beings and mankind. Direct flight to Chennai is 11 hours, then about 90 minutes by bus
11 Mosaics, Great Mosque (715 AD) Damascus Getting there: straightforward
This decoration depicts architectural vistas, palaces, villages, landscape, orchards and naturalistic, spreading trees. The subject has been claimed both to be the city of Damascus itself and of paradise. The mosaics have been much damaged by fires and disasters, but the remaining sections are one of the glories of Islamic art. Direct five-hour flights to Damascus
12 The Incarnation Initial, Book of Kells (early 9th century) Trinity College Library, Dublin Getting there: easy
Here Celtic culture fused with that of the Mediterranean in a spectacular firework display of decoration. The result is "so delicate and subtle, so concise and compact, so full of knots and links", wrote a 12th-century admirer, "that you might think it the work of an angel". Less than an hour by plane
13 Sculptures, Temple of Borobudur (9th century) Java Getting there: hellish
This building is a model in stone of the Buddhist view of human existence. The visitor slowly climbs a square pyramid, passing friezes that illustrate the consequences of living in a world of desire, and, in 1,300 panels, the life of the Buddha. Then the pilgrim reaches an undecorated zone where stone Buddhas sit meditating in bliss. The graceful reliefs were a source of inspiration to Gauguin. The flight to Jakarta is 15 hours, changing planes in Singapore, then an internal flight to Yoyakarta, then 90 minutes on the bus. Best to check Foreign Office advice (www.fco.gov.uk) before booking.
14 Fan Kuan, Travellers by Streams & Mountains (c1000), National Palace Museum, Taipei Getting there: bearable
The painters of Song dynasty of China were profound exponents of landscape and Fan Kuan, a Daoist dweller in remote mountains, was among of the greatest of them. This, his only remaining work, represents a gnarled, majestic mountain rising out of the misty void of a valley. It is not only a natural scene, but a visualisation of the fundamental processes of the cosmos. 17 hours, but at least it's direct
15 Head with Crown (11th to 15th centuries) Ife Museum, Nigeria Getting there: difficult
The ancient bronze and terracotta heads and figures discovered at Ife - the ancient ritual centre of the Yoruba people of south-western Nigeria - are among the most naturalistic products of African art. They are thought to be idealised portraits of the kings, or Oni, of Ife. Few works give so powerful a sense of dignity. Eight-hour direct flight to Lagos, then three more hours on the bus
16 Carvings, Santo Domingo de los Silos (11th century) Santo Domingo de los Silos, Spain Getting there: straightforward
Why, St Bernard of Clairvaux famously asked, were these "filthy apes", these "fierce lions" "these monstrous centaurs" carved in a monastery? It's a good question. Romanesque cloisters, of which this is a magnificent example, present not only sacred stories, but also a phantasmagoria of the imagination. It's an aspect of art that continues through Hieronymous Bosch down to the Surrealists. Direct flight to Madrid, then a 130-mile drive north
17 Christ Pantocrator (mid-12th century) Cefalù Cathedral, Sicily Getting there: straightforward Of all the images of Christ Pantocrator - that is, "almighty" - created in the Byzantine idiom, this is the most regal. Christ is silhouetted against the golden mosaic of the apse of Cefalù Cathedral. The building was founded by Roger II, a Norman king of Sicily. But the mosaics were possibly created by craftsmen from Constantinople. So, as well as being a masterpiece, this is an emblem of the complex fusion of Mediterranean culture. Three-hour direct flight to Palermo, then a short train trip along the coast
18 Stained glass, Chartres (12th -13th centuries) Chartres Cathedral, France Getting there: easy
The artists of medieval France perfected the skill of making pictures out of translucent pieces of coloured glass. None are richer than those of Chartres - especially the earliest, dating from the mid-12th century. Their power comes not so much from the images drawn on the windows of the church as from the colours of the panes. This is making art out of coloured light, a modern idea and a powerful one. Potter down from Dieppe or Le Havre by car; or change trains in Paris
19 Moai (1250 to 1500) Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Getting there: hellish
The Moai are gigantic stone figures whose heads take up 60 per cent of their length. Nearly 900 have been found on this tiny island in the Pacific. They have elongated noses and lengthy oblong ears, which help to give them their extraordinary sense of watchful force. It is believed they represent deified ancestors, in which case the Moai are one of the most remarkable examples of art's power to overcome time, and make the past present. Twenty-four hours in the air, changing planes in Madrid and Santiago, Chile
20 Giotto, frescoes (c 1304-13) Cappella Scrovegni or Arena Chapel, Padua Getting there: straightforward
Giotto brought into painting a sense of weight and mass that had never been achieved before and has never been surpassed. You feel you could guess the weight of his figures, even put your arm around them. Together with a simple directness of storytelling, this adds tremendous force to his narrative scenes. Direct flight to Treviso, then a 50-mile drive or rail
21 Duccio di Buoninsegna, Maestà (1308-11) Museo dell' Opera del Duomo, Siena Getting there: straightforward
The artists of Siena - of whom Duccio was the greatest - specialised in line and colour rather than weight and mass. The smaller panels of his dismembered masterpiece narrate the life of Christ and the Virgin. It is the great central panel, the Virgin and Child enthroned in majesty, from which the picture gets its name - the Maestà. It is a sacred composition of great abstract power, the lines dance and soar; the colours, especially the reds, sing out. Direct flight to Pisa or Florence, then up to an hour by train
22 Jan van Eyck, Ghent altarpiece (c1425-1433) St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent Getting there: easy
Using transparent layers of paint, bound by an oil medium, Jan van Eyck conjured up an almost hallucinatory facsimile of textures and surfaces. The sparkle of jewels, the hairs of a beard, the feathers of an angel's wing - in his work such things appear in a manner that still, nearly six centuries later, seems almost miraculous. This is one of the most enthralling achievements in the history of art. Eurostar to Brussels, then local train
23 Statue of Coatlícue (15th century) Aztec
Museo Nacional de Anthropologia, Mexico City Getting there: Bearable
Her severed head replaced by two fanged serpents, her hands and feet transformed into claws, a necklace of severed hands and hearts, Coatlícue is at once the greatest of Aztec sculptures and the most fearsome. When this nightmarish work was dug up in the 18th century, it was nervously reburied. Coatlícue embodies the power of art to terrify. Twelve hours non-stop by air
24 Piero della Francesca, 'The Legend of the True Cross' (1454-58) Frescoes, San Francesco, Arezzo, Italy Getting there: straightforward
One of the recurring preoccupations of art has been the analysis of what we see in terms of mathematics. The Italian Renaissance was obsessed by geometry; this fascination gave lucid harmony to the art of Piero della Francesca. But its poetry results as much from his cool and limpid colour. The climax of his surviving work is to be found in the Capella Maggiore of the church of San Franceso, Arezzo. Nowhere do men and their surroundings appear so calmly ordered. Two-hour flight to Pisa or Florence, then a good hour by road
25 Leonardo da Vinci, 'Lady with an Ermine' (c. 1490) Czartorski Collection, Krakow Getting there: easy
The Last Supper is a wreck, the Mona Lisa is so besieged that it's almost impossible to see - which leaves this beguiling picture as the most beautiful Leonardo in existence. It is in any case the picture that presented one of his great innovations: a sense of human personality more real, subtle and complex than had ever existed in portraiture before. Direct flight to Krakow
26 Zen garden, Ryoan-ji Temple (late 15th century) Kyoto, Japan Getting there: bearable
This is the most celebrated example of what in Japanese is called a karesansui, or "dry landscape". Since it consists of nothing but raked white sandy gravel and mossy stones, it could, in Western terms, be thought of as a sculptural installation. Its point, achieved with incomparable simplicity and elegance, is one of the fundamental objectives of art: to focus meditation on the mystery of existence. Tokyo is 12 hours direct, then it's a short internal flight or the bullet train
27 Michelangelo Buonarroti, 'David' (1504) Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence Getting there: straightforward
In Michelangelo's work, mankind was redesigned to become muscular and filled with power. That forcefulness, however, isn't just physical. Michelangelo's man seems primed for intellectual and spiritual struggle. David is the most overpowering single incarnation of Michelangelo man. He is also a manifestation of one of the most amazing powers of art: the ability to imagine a new way of being human. Direct flight to Florence; or Pisa, then less than an hour by rail
28 Matthias Grünewald, Isenheim altarpiece (1515) Colmar, France Getting there: straightforward
The folding panels of this multi-layered early 16th-century work depict the extremes of physical anguish and mystic joy. The combination of images - ecstatic, scarifying and strange - makes this a supreme work of the northern European imagination.Rail via Paris; or fly to Basel, then an hour by car
29 Ardabil carpet, Iran (1539-40) V&A, London Getting there: easy
This is the grandest, best-preserved and most celebrated oriental carpet in existence. Colossal - 11 metres by five - and flawlessly ordered, it contains identifiable motifs such as flowers and lamps. But it is essentially abstract, and easily the equal of any 20th-century abstraction. V&A, London SW7 (020 7942 2000)
30 Titian, 'Diana and Actaeon' (1556-9) Duke of Sutherland, on long-term loan to the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh Getting there: easy
"Flesh," as Willem de Kooning said, "is the reason oil painting was invented." Nowhere was that medium's capacity to evoke human skin and bodies exploited more magnificently than in Venice, and by no painter more than by Titian. His late mythological pictures, of which this is an especially splendid and mature example, are among the most remarkable images of the nude in the history of art. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (0131 624 6200)
31 Jacopo Tintoretto, Crucifixion (1565-87) Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice Getting there: easy
Tintoretto's colossal cycle of oil paintings constitutes one of the most overwhelming one-person shows ever mounted. But, of the more than 50 major works to be seen here, the masterpiece - because of its brooding sense of tragedy dominating a vast panorama crowded with minor characters and incidents - is the Crucifixion. El Greco called it "The greatest painting that exists today in the world". This is a truly Shakespearean picture. Direct flight to Venice, then waterbus
32 Pieter Breugel the Elder, Hunters in the Snow (1565) Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Getting there: easy
This picture conjures up the northern European winter as nothing else does. You can smell the frost and wood-smoke in the air. It is also a supreme example of a way of seeing the landscape around us: a panorama spread out beneath our feet, knowable, measurable as a map. Just over two hours in the air
33 Caravaggio, 'Scenes from the Life of St Matthew' (1598-1602) Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome Getting there: easy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio brought an almost cinematic quality of drama to the art of painting. In fact, you could call it baroque cinema noir: a world of deep shadows, sharp highlights, squalid details and shocking violence. This remains his most gripping ensemble. Caravaggio's saints and angels inhabit sleazy contemporary Rome much as Raymond Chandler's private eyes passed down the mean streets of 1940s America. Two-hour flight to Rome
34 Bernini, 'The Ecstasy of St Teresa', Cornaro Chapel (1647-52) Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome Getting there: easy
Bernini was a master of metamorphosis. Here stone becomes cloth, which is in turn transformed into a metaphor for quivering emotion. His media include not only metal, stucco and marble but also light, which filters down from above. To the side of the chapel, all designed by Bernini, the Cornaro family observe the scene from boxes. We join the audience for this masterpiece of baroque mixed-media installation art. Combine with the Caravaggio
35 Diego Velázquez, 'Las Meninas' (c1656) Prado, Madrid Getting there: easy
Here, Velázquez created an incomparable simulacrum of space, light, cloth, people, dogs, and himself at work on a large canvas - an illusion of the artist creating an illusion. What exactly is Velázquez representing on that canvas? Is it the king and queen, reflected in the mirror? Are they standing in the same position as us, the viewers? This, as a contemporary remarked, is the "theology of painting" - a meditation on art and reality. Two hours direct to Madrid
36 Vermeer, 'View of Delft' (1660-61) Mauritshuis, The Hague Getting there: straightforward
The greatest townscape ever painted. It is executed with great optical precision; here you see what might be called the photographic view of the world. But the result contains a world of delicate nuance. Naturalism is combined with mystery. Direct flight to Amsterdam, then rail
37 Rembrandt van Rijn, 'The Jewish Bride: Isaac and Rebecca' (c1662) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Getting there: easy
There is no more moving depiction of love between man and woman than this late work by Rembrandt, representing a married couple from the Old Testament. Van Gogh announced that he could look at this for a fortnight, with just a crust of dry bread to eat. A very short flight, or six hours on the train
38 Giambattista Tiepolo, 'Apollo and the Four Continents' (1753) Residenz, Wurzburg Getting there: straightforward
As you climb the stairs of this baroque palace, a vast, light-filled fantasy slowly comes into view on the ceiling above your head. Tiepolo's sky is filled with gods, nymphs, clouds, putti, flying horses, and, around the sides, the four continents indicated by crowds of elephants, pyramids, alligators, Africans, Turks, Native Americans. The paintings by Tiepolo constitute an 18th-century whole-earth catalogue. Direct flight to Frankfurt, 90-mile drive to Wurzburg
39 Francisco Goya, 'The Third of May 1808' (1814) Prado, Madrid Getting there: easy Here for the first time an incident from current affairs is treated with the heroic dignity previously reserved for religious martyrs and classical myths. On May 2 the people of Madrid rose against occupying French troops; the next day there were savage reprisals. In Goya's picture, the victims are cut down by a military machine. This is the greatest and most harrowing work of political protest in art. Another quick trip to Madrid
40 Theodore Géricault, 'The Raft of the Medusa' (1819) Louvre, Paris Getting there: easy
In Géricault's romantic masterpiece, a contemporary scandal is transformed into a powerful metaphor for the human condition. The passengers and crew of the Medusa, sailing to West Africa, were subject to a terrible ordeal. The painting dramatises the moment when they first sight a rescuing ship. The situation is appalling, but there is hope in the far, far distance. Just over two hours on the Eurostar
41 John Constable, 'Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows' (1831) Private collection, on long-term loan to the National Gallery, London Getting there: easy
This grand composition is largely made up of humble items: a little river, some bits of broken fence, undergrowth, cumulus clouds, a willow. In the distance rises the spire of Salisbury Cathedral, a rainbow arching above it. Constable's picture is a supreme example of a very British attitude - careful, objective observation of the natural world, combined with poetic reverence for it. National Gallery, London WC2 (020 7747 2423)
42 Vincent van Gogh, 'Vincent's Chair' (1888) National Gallery, London Getting there: easy
No work of art so perfectly demonstrates the ability of art to take an ordinary object and invest it with immense significance. This is a cheap, utilitarian piece of furniture, used by the artist himself. It is as powerful as anything in the history of art: simple, strong, and filled with Van Gogh's feelings about art, life and the poignancy of his own personality. National Gallery, London WC2 (020 7747 2423)
43 Pablo Picasso, 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' (1907), Museum of Modern Art, New York Getting there: straightforward
This painting, more than any other work, cracked open the smooth surface of Western art. The picture, ostensibly of five prostitutes, presented the viewer with an image of ferocious sexuality. The cliché is that Picasso was influenced by the "primitivism" of non-Western art. More profoundly, it revealed the turmoil within the human psyche. That inner darkness became one of the great themes of 20th-century modernism. Eight hours on the plane
44 Henri Matisse, 'La Danse (II)' (1910) Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (currently on show at the Royal Academy) Getting there: straightforward
In this decoration for the stairwell of a Russian collector's Moscow mansion, Matisse created an image of irresistibly buoyant movement. Here is a supreme demonstration of one of the paradoxes of visual art: though static, it may seem to move. Three-hour flight to St Petersburg, or queue up at the Royal Academy
45 Claude Monet, 'Waterlilies' (completed 1926) Orangerie, Paris Getting there: easy
Monet's grand late paintings envelop you; they are not just a set of pictures but a universe. In one sense, they show almost nothing: a bit of water at the end of the artist's garden. In another, they contain almost everything - light, air, water, space, time, energy, organic growth, the microcosm reflecting the macrocosm. Another Eurostar booking
46 Constantin Brancusi, 'Endless Column' (1937) Targu Jiu, Romania Getting there: straightforward
Endless Column is a wonderful demonstration that less can be more. Brancusi conceived it as the tree of life, a pillar of the sky, or as he put it himself, "the stairway to heaven". The sculpture mixes modernism, mysticism, and inspiration - perhaps - from the carved columns that were set up in Romanian cemeteries. The repeated bead-like shape becomes a shaft of light and an image of eternity and ascent. Minimalism becomes mystical. Direct flights to Bucharest take three and a half hours, then it's 200 miles by train or car
47 Jackson Pollock, 'One: No 31' (1950) Museum of Modern art, New York Getting there: straightforward
A marvellous example of how art can make something out of nothing much. It's a skein of dribbles, splashes, specks and flickers of paint. But if you let it, it takes you over. It pulses with energy; you could be confronting a star-map, the nerve-paths of the brain, a primeval forest. It's so big - more than 17 feet wide - you seem to get lost. With Pollock, the bigger the work, the more power: this is the most poised and intricate of all. Combine with the Picasso (no 43)
48 Roy Lichtenstein, 'Whaam!' (1963) Tate, London Getting there: easy
A number of late 20th-century artists - Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons among them - have used imagery and styles from mass media to make art of monumental scale and formal power. None has done so with more precision and zinging energy than Lichtenstein did here. His picture is an image of modern warfare in a popular style, but it is as strong as any battle painting of the past. The idiom is so cool, you scarcely notice the nastiness of the subject. Tate Modern, London SE1 (020 7887 8888)
49 Robert Smithson, 'Spiral Jetty' (1970) Salt Lake, Utah, USA Getting there: difficult
If this is a sculpture, it's one of the largest in the world: it is a winding 15ft-wide path, 1,500 feet long, projecting a quarter of a mile into a remote part of the Great Salt Lake. Soon after it was created, it sank beneath the saline waters, and emerged decades later, gleaming white (water levels should be checked before visiting: www.spiraljetty.org). The simple form suggests innumerable analogies - viruses, shells, stellar nebulae. But most of all it is a metaphor for the slow, inexorable processes of geological time. Change planes at, for example, Denver en route to Salt Lake City (13 hours), then a 120-mile drive
50 Donald Judd, 'Untitled' Installation of 100 mill-aluminium boxes (1982-6), Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas Getting there: difficult
A verbal description of this - ranks of metal boxes, in two huge halls - sounds dry. But there is only one word for the experience: sublime. The changing light floods in from the desert landscape of western Texas, and the boxes trap it and reflect it. Inside some, you find sharp shadows; in others, a misty void. Towards sunset, they flush with gold. It's an enthralling meditation on space and light. Direct flight to Dallas (nine hours), then a 500-mile slog across Texan desert
Martin Gayford studied philosophy at Cambridge and art history at the Courtauld Institute. He is the art critic of the Spectator, and contributes regularly to the Daily Telegraph, Modern Painters and Harpers & Queen. He is married, with two children, and lives in Cambridge. His latest book is The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles (2006).
Sunday Telegraph 8 March 2008
The human race has been making art for thousands of years. Here, in chronological order, critic Martin Gayford chooses his 50 artistic wonders of the world.
1 Sculpture of Khafre (Chephren) (c2800 BC) Cairo Museum Getting there: straightforward
The painter Francis Bacon concluded that the ancient Egyptians were the greatest artists of all. No work supports that judgment better than this sculpture of the Pharaoh Khafre, in black diorite with white veins, his head embraced by the hawk god Horus. It has a concentrated force and presence unequalled over 5,000 years. Direct flights to Cairo, but takes five hours
2 The Hunts of Ashurbanipal Relief sculptures from Nineveh, northern Iraq (c645 BC) British Museum Getting there: easy
Narrative art achieved a fresh level of naturalism in the decorations of Assyrian royal palaces, none more so than those depicting the hunts by the ruler Ashurbanipal. They portray the triumph of the king over beasts such as the lion. But, paradoxically, the dying animals are represented with such delicate observation that it is hard not to see them as poignant victims. British Museum, London WC1; 020 7323 8299
3 Riace Warriors (mid-5th century BC) Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia, Reggio di Calabria, Italy Getting there: straightforward
These two bronze figures, discovered on the seabed in 1972 by an Italian scuba diver, are among the noblest works to survive from ancient Greece. Even more so than the Parthenon Marbles, they embody the Greek conception of humanity - anatomically accurate, but more vigorous and poised than flesh-and-blood mankind. They seem both calm and charged with force. As images of an idealised human race, they are unsurpassed. Direct flight to Lamezia, then 100-mile drive
4 Terracotta Army (c220-210 BC) near Xi'an, China Getting there: difficult
Neither photographs, nor the British Museum exhibition can prepare you for the full army. The dead seem to have marched out of the ground, and are awaiting their next command, rank after rank, all subtly different. Some have been left as they were discovered - toppled, fragmentary, like old photographs from the trenches of 1916. This is a direct encounter with a distant, but still formidable antiquity. Direct flight to Beijing (10 hours), then short internal flight, or rail to Xi'an
5 Altar of Zeus from Pergamon (c175-150 BC) Pergamon Museum, Berlin Getting there: easy
The great Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, on the western coast of modern Turkey, was built by Eumenes II to commemorate his father's victory over the Gauls. The reliefs, now in Berlin, depict the battle of the gods against giants: a combat of order against chaos. They represent, on a spectacularly grand scale, a tragic yet heroic struggle. Two-hour direct flight
6 Nasca Earthworks (100 BC to 500 AD) Nasca Desert, Peru Getting there: hellish
Discovered in the 1920s by aerial reconnaissance, these ancient marks were made by moving the darker pebbles of this arid region to reveal the lighter soil beneath. Too large to be seen in their entirety by those who made them, these are testimony to a belief in the cosmic significance of human acts. Sixteen-hour flight to Lima, changing planes in Madrid, then an internal flight or 200 miles on coast road
7 Murals, Villa of the Mysteries (c60-50 BC), Pompeii Getting there: straightforward
These are the most complete and best preserved set of mural paintings to have come down from classical antiquity, with life-sized figures against a deep red background. The subject matter includes nudity, pagan rites, torture - in fact in these images the Roman era seems quite New Age. 100-minute flight to Naples, then a short hop on the local railway
8 Ajanta murals (2nd century BC-7th century AD), Ajanta Caves, India Getting there: hellish
The most splendid of the cave sanctuaries of Asia. The wall paintings depict scenes from the previous lives of the Lord Buddha. Apart from their religious purpose, they present a panoply of ancient Indian life: ascetics, birds, elephants, kings, dancers, queens and their curvaceous and near-naked handmaidens. A supreme example of the power of art to tell a story. Direct flight to Bombay (eight hours), internal flight to Aurangabad, then three-hour bus ride
9 Obelisk of King Ezana (4th century), Axum, Ethiopia Getting there: difficult
Of uncertain purpose, the great obelisks of Aksum in Ethiopia remain compelling objects. The tallest, that of King Ezana, is 24 metres high and is carved with blank doors and windows. The obelisks, set up by the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Axum, are towering examples of how monumental art can endow a place with power. Ten-hour flight to Addis Ababa, then internal flight (or 350-mile drive north). Check Foreign Office advice (www.fco.gov.uk) for latest security situation
10 Arjuna's Penance, relief sculpture (7th century) Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, India Getting there: bearable
This multitudinous carving is on a whale-backed boulder 100 feet long by 45 feet high. In the centre is a natural cleft in the rock, down which water was originally poured to simulate the descent of the River Ganges. No work so evokes a universe inhabited by gods, elephants, spiritual beings and mankind. Direct flight to Chennai is 11 hours, then about 90 minutes by bus
11 Mosaics, Great Mosque (715 AD) Damascus Getting there: straightforward
This decoration depicts architectural vistas, palaces, villages, landscape, orchards and naturalistic, spreading trees. The subject has been claimed both to be the city of Damascus itself and of paradise. The mosaics have been much damaged by fires and disasters, but the remaining sections are one of the glories of Islamic art. Direct five-hour flights to Damascus
12 The Incarnation Initial, Book of Kells (early 9th century) Trinity College Library, Dublin Getting there: easy
Here Celtic culture fused with that of the Mediterranean in a spectacular firework display of decoration. The result is "so delicate and subtle, so concise and compact, so full of knots and links", wrote a 12th-century admirer, "that you might think it the work of an angel". Less than an hour by plane
13 Sculptures, Temple of Borobudur (9th century) Java Getting there: hellish
This building is a model in stone of the Buddhist view of human existence. The visitor slowly climbs a square pyramid, passing friezes that illustrate the consequences of living in a world of desire, and, in 1,300 panels, the life of the Buddha. Then the pilgrim reaches an undecorated zone where stone Buddhas sit meditating in bliss. The graceful reliefs were a source of inspiration to Gauguin. The flight to Jakarta is 15 hours, changing planes in Singapore, then an internal flight to Yoyakarta, then 90 minutes on the bus. Best to check Foreign Office advice (www.fco.gov.uk) before booking.
14 Fan Kuan, Travellers by Streams & Mountains (c1000), National Palace Museum, Taipei Getting there: bearable
The painters of Song dynasty of China were profound exponents of landscape and Fan Kuan, a Daoist dweller in remote mountains, was among of the greatest of them. This, his only remaining work, represents a gnarled, majestic mountain rising out of the misty void of a valley. It is not only a natural scene, but a visualisation of the fundamental processes of the cosmos. 17 hours, but at least it's direct
15 Head with Crown (11th to 15th centuries) Ife Museum, Nigeria Getting there: difficult
The ancient bronze and terracotta heads and figures discovered at Ife - the ancient ritual centre of the Yoruba people of south-western Nigeria - are among the most naturalistic products of African art. They are thought to be idealised portraits of the kings, or Oni, of Ife. Few works give so powerful a sense of dignity. Eight-hour direct flight to Lagos, then three more hours on the bus
16 Carvings, Santo Domingo de los Silos (11th century) Santo Domingo de los Silos, Spain Getting there: straightforward
Why, St Bernard of Clairvaux famously asked, were these "filthy apes", these "fierce lions" "these monstrous centaurs" carved in a monastery? It's a good question. Romanesque cloisters, of which this is a magnificent example, present not only sacred stories, but also a phantasmagoria of the imagination. It's an aspect of art that continues through Hieronymous Bosch down to the Surrealists. Direct flight to Madrid, then a 130-mile drive north
17 Christ Pantocrator (mid-12th century) Cefalù Cathedral, Sicily Getting there: straightforward Of all the images of Christ Pantocrator - that is, "almighty" - created in the Byzantine idiom, this is the most regal. Christ is silhouetted against the golden mosaic of the apse of Cefalù Cathedral. The building was founded by Roger II, a Norman king of Sicily. But the mosaics were possibly created by craftsmen from Constantinople. So, as well as being a masterpiece, this is an emblem of the complex fusion of Mediterranean culture. Three-hour direct flight to Palermo, then a short train trip along the coast
18 Stained glass, Chartres (12th -13th centuries) Chartres Cathedral, France Getting there: easy
The artists of medieval France perfected the skill of making pictures out of translucent pieces of coloured glass. None are richer than those of Chartres - especially the earliest, dating from the mid-12th century. Their power comes not so much from the images drawn on the windows of the church as from the colours of the panes. This is making art out of coloured light, a modern idea and a powerful one. Potter down from Dieppe or Le Havre by car; or change trains in Paris
19 Moai (1250 to 1500) Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Getting there: hellish
The Moai are gigantic stone figures whose heads take up 60 per cent of their length. Nearly 900 have been found on this tiny island in the Pacific. They have elongated noses and lengthy oblong ears, which help to give them their extraordinary sense of watchful force. It is believed they represent deified ancestors, in which case the Moai are one of the most remarkable examples of art's power to overcome time, and make the past present. Twenty-four hours in the air, changing planes in Madrid and Santiago, Chile
20 Giotto, frescoes (c 1304-13) Cappella Scrovegni or Arena Chapel, Padua Getting there: straightforward
Giotto brought into painting a sense of weight and mass that had never been achieved before and has never been surpassed. You feel you could guess the weight of his figures, even put your arm around them. Together with a simple directness of storytelling, this adds tremendous force to his narrative scenes. Direct flight to Treviso, then a 50-mile drive or rail
21 Duccio di Buoninsegna, Maestà (1308-11) Museo dell' Opera del Duomo, Siena Getting there: straightforward
The artists of Siena - of whom Duccio was the greatest - specialised in line and colour rather than weight and mass. The smaller panels of his dismembered masterpiece narrate the life of Christ and the Virgin. It is the great central panel, the Virgin and Child enthroned in majesty, from which the picture gets its name - the Maestà. It is a sacred composition of great abstract power, the lines dance and soar; the colours, especially the reds, sing out. Direct flight to Pisa or Florence, then up to an hour by train
22 Jan van Eyck, Ghent altarpiece (c1425-1433) St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent Getting there: easy
Using transparent layers of paint, bound by an oil medium, Jan van Eyck conjured up an almost hallucinatory facsimile of textures and surfaces. The sparkle of jewels, the hairs of a beard, the feathers of an angel's wing - in his work such things appear in a manner that still, nearly six centuries later, seems almost miraculous. This is one of the most enthralling achievements in the history of art. Eurostar to Brussels, then local train
23 Statue of Coatlícue (15th century) Aztec
Museo Nacional de Anthropologia, Mexico City Getting there: Bearable
Her severed head replaced by two fanged serpents, her hands and feet transformed into claws, a necklace of severed hands and hearts, Coatlícue is at once the greatest of Aztec sculptures and the most fearsome. When this nightmarish work was dug up in the 18th century, it was nervously reburied. Coatlícue embodies the power of art to terrify. Twelve hours non-stop by air
24 Piero della Francesca, 'The Legend of the True Cross' (1454-58) Frescoes, San Francesco, Arezzo, Italy Getting there: straightforward
One of the recurring preoccupations of art has been the analysis of what we see in terms of mathematics. The Italian Renaissance was obsessed by geometry; this fascination gave lucid harmony to the art of Piero della Francesca. But its poetry results as much from his cool and limpid colour. The climax of his surviving work is to be found in the Capella Maggiore of the church of San Franceso, Arezzo. Nowhere do men and their surroundings appear so calmly ordered. Two-hour flight to Pisa or Florence, then a good hour by road
25 Leonardo da Vinci, 'Lady with an Ermine' (c. 1490) Czartorski Collection, Krakow Getting there: easy
The Last Supper is a wreck, the Mona Lisa is so besieged that it's almost impossible to see - which leaves this beguiling picture as the most beautiful Leonardo in existence. It is in any case the picture that presented one of his great innovations: a sense of human personality more real, subtle and complex than had ever existed in portraiture before. Direct flight to Krakow
26 Zen garden, Ryoan-ji Temple (late 15th century) Kyoto, Japan Getting there: bearable
This is the most celebrated example of what in Japanese is called a karesansui, or "dry landscape". Since it consists of nothing but raked white sandy gravel and mossy stones, it could, in Western terms, be thought of as a sculptural installation. Its point, achieved with incomparable simplicity and elegance, is one of the fundamental objectives of art: to focus meditation on the mystery of existence. Tokyo is 12 hours direct, then it's a short internal flight or the bullet train
27 Michelangelo Buonarroti, 'David' (1504) Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence Getting there: straightforward
In Michelangelo's work, mankind was redesigned to become muscular and filled with power. That forcefulness, however, isn't just physical. Michelangelo's man seems primed for intellectual and spiritual struggle. David is the most overpowering single incarnation of Michelangelo man. He is also a manifestation of one of the most amazing powers of art: the ability to imagine a new way of being human. Direct flight to Florence; or Pisa, then less than an hour by rail
28 Matthias Grünewald, Isenheim altarpiece (1515) Colmar, France Getting there: straightforward
The folding panels of this multi-layered early 16th-century work depict the extremes of physical anguish and mystic joy. The combination of images - ecstatic, scarifying and strange - makes this a supreme work of the northern European imagination.Rail via Paris; or fly to Basel, then an hour by car
29 Ardabil carpet, Iran (1539-40) V&A, London Getting there: easy
This is the grandest, best-preserved and most celebrated oriental carpet in existence. Colossal - 11 metres by five - and flawlessly ordered, it contains identifiable motifs such as flowers and lamps. But it is essentially abstract, and easily the equal of any 20th-century abstraction. V&A, London SW7 (020 7942 2000)
30 Titian, 'Diana and Actaeon' (1556-9) Duke of Sutherland, on long-term loan to the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh Getting there: easy
"Flesh," as Willem de Kooning said, "is the reason oil painting was invented." Nowhere was that medium's capacity to evoke human skin and bodies exploited more magnificently than in Venice, and by no painter more than by Titian. His late mythological pictures, of which this is an especially splendid and mature example, are among the most remarkable images of the nude in the history of art. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (0131 624 6200)
31 Jacopo Tintoretto, Crucifixion (1565-87) Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice Getting there: easy
Tintoretto's colossal cycle of oil paintings constitutes one of the most overwhelming one-person shows ever mounted. But, of the more than 50 major works to be seen here, the masterpiece - because of its brooding sense of tragedy dominating a vast panorama crowded with minor characters and incidents - is the Crucifixion. El Greco called it "The greatest painting that exists today in the world". This is a truly Shakespearean picture. Direct flight to Venice, then waterbus
32 Pieter Breugel the Elder, Hunters in the Snow (1565) Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Getting there: easy
This picture conjures up the northern European winter as nothing else does. You can smell the frost and wood-smoke in the air. It is also a supreme example of a way of seeing the landscape around us: a panorama spread out beneath our feet, knowable, measurable as a map. Just over two hours in the air
33 Caravaggio, 'Scenes from the Life of St Matthew' (1598-1602) Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome Getting there: easy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio brought an almost cinematic quality of drama to the art of painting. In fact, you could call it baroque cinema noir: a world of deep shadows, sharp highlights, squalid details and shocking violence. This remains his most gripping ensemble. Caravaggio's saints and angels inhabit sleazy contemporary Rome much as Raymond Chandler's private eyes passed down the mean streets of 1940s America. Two-hour flight to Rome
34 Bernini, 'The Ecstasy of St Teresa', Cornaro Chapel (1647-52) Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome Getting there: easy
Bernini was a master of metamorphosis. Here stone becomes cloth, which is in turn transformed into a metaphor for quivering emotion. His media include not only metal, stucco and marble but also light, which filters down from above. To the side of the chapel, all designed by Bernini, the Cornaro family observe the scene from boxes. We join the audience for this masterpiece of baroque mixed-media installation art. Combine with the Caravaggio
35 Diego Velázquez, 'Las Meninas' (c1656) Prado, Madrid Getting there: easy
Here, Velázquez created an incomparable simulacrum of space, light, cloth, people, dogs, and himself at work on a large canvas - an illusion of the artist creating an illusion. What exactly is Velázquez representing on that canvas? Is it the king and queen, reflected in the mirror? Are they standing in the same position as us, the viewers? This, as a contemporary remarked, is the "theology of painting" - a meditation on art and reality. Two hours direct to Madrid
36 Vermeer, 'View of Delft' (1660-61) Mauritshuis, The Hague Getting there: straightforward
The greatest townscape ever painted. It is executed with great optical precision; here you see what might be called the photographic view of the world. But the result contains a world of delicate nuance. Naturalism is combined with mystery. Direct flight to Amsterdam, then rail
37 Rembrandt van Rijn, 'The Jewish Bride: Isaac and Rebecca' (c1662) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Getting there: easy
There is no more moving depiction of love between man and woman than this late work by Rembrandt, representing a married couple from the Old Testament. Van Gogh announced that he could look at this for a fortnight, with just a crust of dry bread to eat. A very short flight, or six hours on the train
38 Giambattista Tiepolo, 'Apollo and the Four Continents' (1753) Residenz, Wurzburg Getting there: straightforward
As you climb the stairs of this baroque palace, a vast, light-filled fantasy slowly comes into view on the ceiling above your head. Tiepolo's sky is filled with gods, nymphs, clouds, putti, flying horses, and, around the sides, the four continents indicated by crowds of elephants, pyramids, alligators, Africans, Turks, Native Americans. The paintings by Tiepolo constitute an 18th-century whole-earth catalogue. Direct flight to Frankfurt, 90-mile drive to Wurzburg
39 Francisco Goya, 'The Third of May 1808' (1814) Prado, Madrid Getting there: easy Here for the first time an incident from current affairs is treated with the heroic dignity previously reserved for religious martyrs and classical myths. On May 2 the people of Madrid rose against occupying French troops; the next day there were savage reprisals. In Goya's picture, the victims are cut down by a military machine. This is the greatest and most harrowing work of political protest in art. Another quick trip to Madrid
40 Theodore Géricault, 'The Raft of the Medusa' (1819) Louvre, Paris Getting there: easy
In Géricault's romantic masterpiece, a contemporary scandal is transformed into a powerful metaphor for the human condition. The passengers and crew of the Medusa, sailing to West Africa, were subject to a terrible ordeal. The painting dramatises the moment when they first sight a rescuing ship. The situation is appalling, but there is hope in the far, far distance. Just over two hours on the Eurostar
41 John Constable, 'Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows' (1831) Private collection, on long-term loan to the National Gallery, London Getting there: easy
This grand composition is largely made up of humble items: a little river, some bits of broken fence, undergrowth, cumulus clouds, a willow. In the distance rises the spire of Salisbury Cathedral, a rainbow arching above it. Constable's picture is a supreme example of a very British attitude - careful, objective observation of the natural world, combined with poetic reverence for it. National Gallery, London WC2 (020 7747 2423)
42 Vincent van Gogh, 'Vincent's Chair' (1888) National Gallery, London Getting there: easy
No work of art so perfectly demonstrates the ability of art to take an ordinary object and invest it with immense significance. This is a cheap, utilitarian piece of furniture, used by the artist himself. It is as powerful as anything in the history of art: simple, strong, and filled with Van Gogh's feelings about art, life and the poignancy of his own personality. National Gallery, London WC2 (020 7747 2423)
43 Pablo Picasso, 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' (1907), Museum of Modern Art, New York Getting there: straightforward
This painting, more than any other work, cracked open the smooth surface of Western art. The picture, ostensibly of five prostitutes, presented the viewer with an image of ferocious sexuality. The cliché is that Picasso was influenced by the "primitivism" of non-Western art. More profoundly, it revealed the turmoil within the human psyche. That inner darkness became one of the great themes of 20th-century modernism. Eight hours on the plane
44 Henri Matisse, 'La Danse (II)' (1910) Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (currently on show at the Royal Academy) Getting there: straightforward
In this decoration for the stairwell of a Russian collector's Moscow mansion, Matisse created an image of irresistibly buoyant movement. Here is a supreme demonstration of one of the paradoxes of visual art: though static, it may seem to move. Three-hour flight to St Petersburg, or queue up at the Royal Academy
45 Claude Monet, 'Waterlilies' (completed 1926) Orangerie, Paris Getting there: easy
Monet's grand late paintings envelop you; they are not just a set of pictures but a universe. In one sense, they show almost nothing: a bit of water at the end of the artist's garden. In another, they contain almost everything - light, air, water, space, time, energy, organic growth, the microcosm reflecting the macrocosm. Another Eurostar booking
46 Constantin Brancusi, 'Endless Column' (1937) Targu Jiu, Romania Getting there: straightforward
Endless Column is a wonderful demonstration that less can be more. Brancusi conceived it as the tree of life, a pillar of the sky, or as he put it himself, "the stairway to heaven". The sculpture mixes modernism, mysticism, and inspiration - perhaps - from the carved columns that were set up in Romanian cemeteries. The repeated bead-like shape becomes a shaft of light and an image of eternity and ascent. Minimalism becomes mystical. Direct flights to Bucharest take three and a half hours, then it's 200 miles by train or car
47 Jackson Pollock, 'One: No 31' (1950) Museum of Modern art, New York Getting there: straightforward
A marvellous example of how art can make something out of nothing much. It's a skein of dribbles, splashes, specks and flickers of paint. But if you let it, it takes you over. It pulses with energy; you could be confronting a star-map, the nerve-paths of the brain, a primeval forest. It's so big - more than 17 feet wide - you seem to get lost. With Pollock, the bigger the work, the more power: this is the most poised and intricate of all. Combine with the Picasso (no 43)
48 Roy Lichtenstein, 'Whaam!' (1963) Tate, London Getting there: easy
A number of late 20th-century artists - Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons among them - have used imagery and styles from mass media to make art of monumental scale and formal power. None has done so with more precision and zinging energy than Lichtenstein did here. His picture is an image of modern warfare in a popular style, but it is as strong as any battle painting of the past. The idiom is so cool, you scarcely notice the nastiness of the subject. Tate Modern, London SE1 (020 7887 8888)
49 Robert Smithson, 'Spiral Jetty' (1970) Salt Lake, Utah, USA Getting there: difficult
If this is a sculpture, it's one of the largest in the world: it is a winding 15ft-wide path, 1,500 feet long, projecting a quarter of a mile into a remote part of the Great Salt Lake. Soon after it was created, it sank beneath the saline waters, and emerged decades later, gleaming white (water levels should be checked before visiting: www.spiraljetty.org). The simple form suggests innumerable analogies - viruses, shells, stellar nebulae. But most of all it is a metaphor for the slow, inexorable processes of geological time. Change planes at, for example, Denver en route to Salt Lake City (13 hours), then a 120-mile drive
50 Donald Judd, 'Untitled' Installation of 100 mill-aluminium boxes (1982-6), Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas Getting there: difficult
A verbal description of this - ranks of metal boxes, in two huge halls - sounds dry. But there is only one word for the experience: sublime. The changing light floods in from the desert landscape of western Texas, and the boxes trap it and reflect it. Inside some, you find sharp shadows; in others, a misty void. Towards sunset, they flush with gold. It's an enthralling meditation on space and light. Direct flight to Dallas (nine hours), then a 500-mile slog across Texan desert
Martin Gayford studied philosophy at Cambridge and art history at the Courtauld Institute. He is the art critic of the Spectator, and contributes regularly to the Daily Telegraph, Modern Painters and Harpers & Queen. He is married, with two children, and lives in Cambridge. His latest book is The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles (2006).
posted by Silabilm at 7:32 PM
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