Borghese Museum and Gallery, Rome

Borghese Museum and Gallery, Rome

A lovely display in a beautiful villa setting, which concentrates on the quality rather than the size of its collection.

A lovely display in a beautiful villa setting, which concentrates on the quality rather than the size of its collection. There are some very notable works by Antonio Canova and Gian Lorenzo Bernini here, Bernini's Apollo and Daphneis quite amazing. It also houses some of Caravaggio paintings, well worth the admission charge. The number of people admitted is limited to 360 every 2 hours, so it is best to make a reservation on-line well in advance for the time slot you want. If you are late for your reservation the museum may not allow you to use your ticket. Originally, the gallery was one of the most magnificent private art collections in the world. It was founded by Cardinal Scipione Borghese. At the beginning of the 19th cent Prince Camillo Borghese sold great parts of the collections to Paris where today they belong to the most valuable exhibits of the Louvre. Since 1902 the villa and the gallery are owned by the Italian state. On the ground floor you will find the Entrance Halls and 8 rooms. The Great Entrance Hall (Salone) has a painted ceiling depicting the negotiations between Marcus Furius Camillus and the Gaul King Brennus (who took Rome in 387 BC), mosaics from the 4th cent AD illustrating fights of gladiators and animal hunts and colossal heads of Emperors Hadrianus and Antoninus Pius. In Sala I (Sala della Paolina) you will see the sculpture of Paolina Borghese, sister of Napoleon, in the posture of resting Venus, one of the most famous sculptures of Antonio Canova, dating from 1805. In Sala II (Sala del Davide) is the sculpture of David with the sling, early work of Lorenzo Bernini, dating from 1623. Sala III (Sala di Apollo e Dafne) has Bernini's masterpiece Apollo and Daphne, created 1622 until 1625. In Sala IV (Sala degli Imperatori) 18 busts of emperors from the 17th cent and Bernini's Pluto takes Proserpina are exhibited. Sala V (Sala dell'Ermafrodito) has a Roman copy of a Greek statue of the 3rd cent BC of a sleeping hermaphrodite. Exhibits in Sala VI (Sala di Enea e Anchise) are a statue by Bernini with assistance of his father Aeneas carries his father Anchises away from Troja, dated 1618/19 and another statue by Bernini from 1646-1652 Truth unveileid by Kronos. In Sala VII (Sala Egiziana) look at a statue of a male youth with a dolphin, a Roman copy from the time of Emperor Hadrianus. Sala VIII (Sala del Fauno danzante) has a dancing satyr, a Roman copy after a work of the Greek sculptor Lysippos. The upper floor has 12 rooms. In the Sala di Raffaelo you can see paintings of the deposition to the tomb and a lady with a unicorn by Raffael. The Sala di Cranach has a painting of Venus and Cupido by Luicas Cranach and a male portrait by Albvert Duerer. In the Sala del Caravaggio e di Lanfranco you will find paintings of the Madonna of the Palafrenieri, a young boy with fruits, David with the head of Gioliath by Caravaggio, a model for an equestrain statue of King Louis XIV of France and 2 portrait busts of Cardinal Scipio Birghese by Bernini. a selfportait and a portrait of a young boy by Bernini can be seen in the Sala di Bernini. The Sala del Corregio has a painting of Danae by Correggio. Finally, the Sala di Tiziano contains some of the best paintings by Titian, Heavenly and worldly love, one of his early works, and The Education of Amor (around 1565).