BBC榜单：世界最伟大10家博物馆

 　　Musee d’Orsay, France

　　奥赛美术馆，法国

　　Standing¹ on the Left Bank of the Seine, this venerable Paris museum was opened in 1986 in a former Beaux-Arts railway station and hotel. The layout uses its previous incarnation to full effect – galleries cluster around the grand nave² and light streams in through its sweeping³ glass roof. Conceived to bridge the gap between the collections of the Louvre Museum and the Pompidou Centre, it focuses on late 19th and early 20th Century art and houses the world’s largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings.

　　这个古老的巴黎博物馆屹立于塞纳河左岸，成立于1986。其前身是美术馆火车站酒店。布局充分展现了其前身的辉煌——画廊集中在大中堂，阳光通过巨大的玻璃屋顶。人们人们把它当作卢浮宫博物馆和蓬皮杜中心之间的桥梁，它侧重于十九晚期和第二十世纪早期的艺术，坐拥着世界上最大的印象派和后印象派绘画收藏品。

　　National Museum of Art, Osaka

　　国立美术馆，大阪

　　After the original 1970s building was demolished⁴, a new structure designed by César Pelli opened in 2004. The majority of the museum – including its art collections – is subterranean⁵, with only the entrance lobby above ground. For maximum wow factor, Pelli’s studio created a towering intertwining glass-and-steel entrance designed to resemble reeds along a riverbank or stalks of bamboo.

　　在1970年代的建筑被拆除后，新建成的版本由CésaR Pelli设计并于2004开放。博物馆的大部分，包括它的艺术收藏品，都处于地下，只有入口大厅是在地面上的。最让人眼前一亮的是，Pelli的工作室创造了一个高耸的缠绕型的玻璃钢入口，形似沿河岸的芦苇或竹子。

　　Guggenheim, Spain

　　古根海姆博物馆，西班牙

　　The impressive building stands on the edge of the Nervión River in the old industrial heart of of the city, its glass and limestone⁶ structure clad in waves of titanium. It was an immediate⁷ sensation; among its fans, the architect Philip Johnson hailed it “the greatest building of our time”.

　　这座令人印象深刻的建筑矗立在Nervión河边，该地方是城市的老工业中心，其玻璃和石灰石构成的主体被用一波一波的钛包裹。它一建成变立即引起了轰动，它的粉丝种包括建筑师菲利普·约翰逊，他称赞它是“我们的时代最伟大的建筑”。

　　Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Brazil

　　尼迈耶博物馆，巴西

　　The museum was opened in 2002-3 and nicknamed ‘the eye’ as it resembles a giant human eye perched on a yellow pillar. The legendary⁸ Brazilian architect who designed it (and gave it his name) was a key figure in the modern movement; he was 95 when the building was completed. A 2,000 sq-ft museum space houses international art along with many of Niemeyer’s own works.

　　博物馆成立于2002-2003，绰号为“眼睛”，它像一个巨大的人类的眼睛，栖息在一个黄色的支柱上。设计它的是一位传奇的巴西建筑设计师，他为这座建筑冠上了自己的名字，他在现代主义运动中是一个关键人物；当建筑完工时，他已经95岁了。这个2000平方英尺的博物馆房间里陈列着国际艺术，其中许多是Niemeyer的作品。

　　British Museum, London

　　大英博物馆，英国

　　The architect Robert Smirke designed the core of the museum, which opened in 1852, in the neo-Classical style. The grand south entrance, with its impressive pediment and pillars, drew inspiration from ancient Greece. In 2000, Foster and Partners created a new Great Court, which, with its spectacular glass roof, transformed the museum’s inner courtyard into the largest covered space in Europe.

　　建筑师Robert Smirke设计了博物馆的核心部分，该馆在1852开业，其具有新古典风格。南大门有着令人印象深刻的三角墙和柱子，其灵感来源是古希腊。在2000年，福斯特和起合作伙伴创造了一个新的大法院，它有着壮观的玻璃屋顶，他们将博物馆的内部庭院改造成为欧洲最大的内部空间。

　　Royal Ontario Museum, Canada

　　皇家安大略博物馆，加拿大

　　This museum of natural history, art and culture is Canada’s largest, with over six million items in its collection. In addition to its original and 20th Century buildings, Studio Daniel Libeskind’s new entrance design, which opened as the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal in 2007, was described by the museum as “a distinctive⁹ new symbol for Toronto for the 21st Century”. The complex prismatic structure of glass and aluminium¹⁰ on a steel frame has its detractors though – in 2009 it made number 8 on a list of ‘the world’s ugliest buildings’.

　　该博物馆的自然历史，艺术和文化是加拿大首屈一指的，其拥有着六百万多件收藏品。除了它是二十世纪的独特建筑，丹尼尔·里伯斯金工作室设计的新入口，在2007年的米迦勒李秦水晶博物馆对外开放，它被描述为“多伦多二十一世纪的独特新标志”。虽然有人批评由玻璃和铝钢框架组成的复杂的棱镜结构，但是被列为2009“世界最丑建筑“第八名。

　　Museo Soumaya, Mexico City

　　索玛亚博物馆，墨西哥市

　　The private cultural institution was established in 1994 and ranges across two sites – Plaza¹¹ Loreto and the Plaza Carso in Mexico City. The latter, which opened in 2011, was designed by Mexican architect Fernando Romero, engineered with Ove Arup and Frank Gehry. A 151ft (46m) structure clad in 16,000 hexagonal aluminium tiles, the six-floor museum contains work predominantly from Mexico and Europe, including the largest collection of Rodin’s works outside of France. Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia.

　　私营文化机构成立于1994，其横跨墨西哥城的洛雷托和卡索广场。后者是在2011对外开放的，由墨西哥建筑师Fernando Romero设计，由Ove Arup和Frank Gehry进行工程监督的。其151英尺（46米）结构是由16000六边形铝砖包裹而成，博物馆六楼的作品主要来自墨西哥和欧洲，包括Rodin在法国以外最大的作品。

　　Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia

　　冬宫博物馆，圣彼得堡 俄罗斯

　　One of the largest and oldest museums in the world, the Hermitage was opened in 1764 by Empress Catherine the Great and houses over three million pieces of art and cultural artefacts. The sprawling¹² state museum complex consists of a number of buildings, including the grand green-and-white Winter Palace, the former home of the Russian Tsars. The colossal¹³ palace was designed in the main by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in an elaborate Baroque style.

　　世界上最大和最古老的博物馆——冬宫，在1764，由女皇凯瑟琳在宣布开放，其拥有超过三百万件艺术品和文物。庞大的州立博物馆由许多建筑物组成，包括宏大的绿白相间的冬宫和俄罗斯沙皇的故居。巨大的宫殿基本上是由Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli设计的巴洛克风格。

　　Museum of Islamic Art, Doha

　　伊斯兰艺术博物馆，多哈

　　Opening in the Qatari capital in 2008, this museum was designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect IM Pei. At the age of 91, Pei travelled throughout the Arab world for six months collecting inspiration for the project. The towering five-storey limestone structure perches¹⁴ on reclaimed¹⁵ land with views across the Doha waterfront and its two wings are connected by a large central courtyard. It houses a collection of Islamic art from over 1,400 years.

　　于2008在卡塔尔首都开放，该馆是由普利茨凯奖得者，贝聿铭建筑师设计。91岁时，裴在阿拉伯周游了六个月，为该项目收集灵感。五层高耸的石灰岩结构矗立在多哈海滨周围的开垦地上，它的两个翅膀由一个大的中央庭院连接。它收藏着超过1400年的伊斯兰艺术品。

　　Vatican Museums, Italy

　　梵蒂冈博物馆，意大利

　　The Vatican City’s museums were opened by Pope Julius II in the 16th Century; its complex contains 52 galleries and is one of the largest museums in the world. The museum’s collection of religious sculpture and painting includes works by Raphael, Titian and Caravaggio. Its rooms include the Gallery of Maps and the Gallery of Tapestries¹⁶ and its very last sala is the magnificent Sistine Chapel¹⁷, its walls decorated with works by artists including Perugino and Botticelli and the vaulted¹⁸ ceiling painted by Michelangelo.

　　梵蒂冈博物馆由教皇尤利乌斯二世在16世纪宣布开放。它的建筑群包含52个画廊，是世界上最大的博物馆之一。该馆收藏着宗教雕塑和绘画，包括拉斐尔、提香和卡拉瓦乔的作品。它的房间包括地图和织锦画廊，其最后的大厅是华丽的西斯廷教堂。它的墙面上装饰着艺术家佩鲁吉诺和波提且利的作品，拱形的天花板上有着米切朗基罗的作品。

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 nave   

n.教堂的中部；本堂

参考例句：

• People gathered in the nave of the house.人们聚拢在房子的中间。
• The family on the other side of the nave had a certain look about them,too.在中殿另一边的那一家人，也有着自己特有的相貌。

3 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

4 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

5 subterranean   

adj.地下的，地表下的

参考例句：

• London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。
• We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。

6 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

9 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

10 aluminium   

n.铝 (=aluminum)

参考例句：

• Aluminium looks heavy but actually it is very light.铝看起来很重，实际上却很轻。
• If necessary, we can use aluminium instead of steel.如果必要，我们可用铝代钢。

11 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

12 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

13 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

14 perches   

栖息处( perch的名词复数 )； 栖枝； 高处； 鲈鱼

参考例句：

• Other protection can be obtained by providing wooden perches througout the orchards. 其它保护措施是可在种子园中到处设置木制的栖木。
• The birds were hopping about on their perches and twittering. 鸟儿在栖木上跳来跳去，吱吱地叫着。

15 reclaimed   

adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• Many sufferers have been reclaimed from a dependence on alcohol. 许多嗜酒成癖的受害者已经被挽救过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They reclaimed him from his evil ways. 他们把他从邪恶中挽救出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 tapestries   

n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The wall of the banqueting hall were hung with tapestries. 宴会厅的墙上挂有壁毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rooms were hung with tapestries. 房间里都装饰着挂毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

18 vaulted   

adj.拱状的

参考例句：

• She vaulted over the gate and ran up the path. 她用手一撑跃过栅栏门沿着小路跑去。
• The formal living room has a fireplace and vaulted ceilings. 正式的客厅有一个壁炉和拱形天花板。