Ireland’s National Gallery can boast an extensive collection of works by Jack B Yeats, impressionist painter, Ireland’s first Olympic medallist – silver in the rather unusual field of arts and culture – and the younger and lesser-known sibling of poet William Butler Yeats. But this is very far from being a museum of second bests. Its collection ranges widely, drawing from most of the major schools of painting to have emerged from Europe over the last few centuries. Admiring the striking portraiture in the twinkling light of some very expensive-looking chandeliers is a wonderfully genteel experience, while upstairs you’ll find a formidable collection of Italian art in a dazzling variety of styles. And keep an eye out for the most impressive work of all, Caravaggio’s Taking of Christ, painted in 1602. Astoundingly, this masterpiece was discovered in a Jesuit House on Dublin’s Leeson Street, accidentally stumbled across by the museum’s curator.

National Gallery of Ireland

Merrion Square W, Dublin 2, Ireland