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The Borghese Gallery

Galleria Borghese

Located within the homonymous Villa, the Borghese Gallery houses a remarkable collectionpainting of sculptures, bass-reliefs, ancient mosaics, sixteenth-seventeenth century paintings, and sculptures. It includes masterpieces by Antonello da Messina, Giovanni Bellini, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Veronese, Raffaello, (Deposition), Domenichino (Diana’s hunt), Tiziano, (Sacred and profane love, Venus blindfolding Love), Correggio (Danae), and Caravaggio (Youth with a fruit basket, the Madonna of the footmen, David with Goliath’s head), Rubens (Pietà), as well as wonderful sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Apollo and Daphne, the Rape of Proserpina, David) and Canova (Paolina Borghese).

The original core of this marvellous collection dates back to the 17th century, when Cardinal Scipio Borghese (1579-1633), the nephew of Pope Paul V, motivated by his love for art and history, begun to collect paintings, sculptures and antiquities. The collection enlarged in the following centuries through purchases and donations.

Scipio had his attention captured by all the expressions of ancient art, Renaissance and innovative currents, which could somehow recall a new golden age. He did not show any interest for medieval art but was passionate about ancient sculpture. His ambition encouraged the creation of new sculptures, especially marble groups, which could compare with the beauty of the ancient masterpieces.

In 1607, the Pope assigned Scipio 107 paintings confiscated from the painter Giuseppe Cesari, known as Cavaliere D’Arpino. One year later, after being illegally removed from the Baglioni Chapel in Perugia, the Raphael’s Deposition was assigned by papal motu proprio to Cardinal Borghese.

One of the most admired and exciting masterpieces in the Gallery dates back to the period between 1621 and 1622, the sculptural group representing the Rape of Proserpina, the work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

In 1682, the collection was further enriched by the inheritance of Olimpia Aldobrandini, with art pieces from Cardinal Salviati and Lucrezia d’Este collections.

Canova’s marble statue of Pauline Bonaparte Borghese (1805-1808) became part of the gallery in 1838. In 1807, her husband Prince Camillo Borghese had to hand over to Napoleon much of the archaeological collection (154 statues, 160 busts, 170 bass-reliefs, 30 columns and some pottery) which was then included in the Borghese Fund at Louvre Museum in Paris.

Since 1902, the Gallery is owned by the Italian state, along with the entire Borghese estate and surrounding gardens and parkland.

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Information

Address 
POINT (12.491986 41.914048)
Timetables 

From Tuesday to Sunday from 9.00 to 19.00. Last admission at 17.45
Closed on Mondays

> Ticket information and online purchase

For updates and guidelines please check the official website.

Contacts 
Email: 
ga-bor.info@cultura.gov.it - info@tosc.it (visite guidate gruppi e scuole) - prenotazioni per gruppi info@tosc.it
Facebook: 
www.facebook.com/galleriaborgheseufficiale
Instagram: 
www.instagram.com/galleriaborgheseufficiale
Online purchase: 
www.gebart.it/musei/galleria-borghese
Telephone: 
06 32810 prenotazioni e acquisto singoli e gruppi
Telephone: 
06 67233753
Twitter: 
https://twitter.com/GallBorghese
Web site: 
https://galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it
Services 
Audioguida
Guardaroba
Libreria
Ristorante
Servizi igienici per disabili
Visite guidate
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Location

Galleria Borghese, Piazzale del Museo Borghese, 5
Piazzale del Museo Borghese, 5
41° 54' 50.5728" N, 12° 29' 31.1496" E

 

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