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In so many museums now, the phenomenon

of over-tourism is making space for cultural

tourism, especially since so few foreign visitors

can come in.

Now, instead of standing shoulder to shoulder,

only able to gaze upwards at Michelangelo’s

ceiling, visitors had space to move and

explore the exquisite details of the high

Renaissance master.

Where suffocating throngs once forced

everyone along in a sweaty shuffle, the only

sensory impediment was a protective mask.

In Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum there were, for

once, more people depicted in Rembrandt’s

Night Watch itself than visitors looking at them.

At the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain,

the price of one ticket bought this month will

include a 3-month museum membership.

Museums all over the world have been

struggling to get through the pandemic crisis

and UNESCO has said that one in eight might

have to close their doors for good. Some of

the major institutions in Europe have been

losing over 2 million euros ($2.2 million)

a month.

Steadily, ever more of Europe’s main museums

will reopen.

In Madrid, the Prado and Reina Sofia open again

on Saturday.

In Paris, the Impressionist palace that is the

Musée d’Orsay will open from June 23 and the

Louvre, home of the Mona Lisa — perhaps the

Girl with the Pearl Earring’s strongest rival — will

welcome visitors again on July 6.

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