A work of exceptional historical and artistic value has returned to the collection of the Borghese Gallery. The precious clock commissioned by Prince Marcantonio Borghese to Luigi Valadier was recently reacquired by the Italian State and is now on display again in its original location, in the Room of Hercules on the second floor of the gallery, where it has resumed striking time with its original, fully functioning mechanism.
A masterpiece of 18th-century decorative art, the clock is one of three that internationally renowned silversmith and sculptor Luigi Valadier created for the Villa Borghese pavilion around 1784. Decorated with elements of Egyptian inspiration, such as the gilded telamons and the frieze with a mock hieroglyphic inscription, the piece features an elegant architectural structure in Carrara white marble, with inlays of ancient marble and refined gilded bronze ornaments.
Dispersed during the sale of the Borghese estate at the end of the 19th century, the clock was tracked down in 2017 in a private collection. Its identification, thanks to the studies of Alvar González-Palacios, was made possible by drawings from Valadier’s workshop preserved at the Pinacoteca Comunale di Faenza and some significant details, such as the small micromosaic diamond created by Cesare Aguatti and documented in the 1784 payment records.
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