The Borghese Gallery offers Bernini sculptures and paintings by Caravaggio, Raphael, and Titian in a Baroque palazzo set idyllically but inconveniently in the vast Villa Borghese Gardens. You get to see art commissioned by the Borghese family displayed in the very rooms for which it was created.
"Rome - 16 May 1605. Camillo Borghese is elected Pope Paul V and immediately names his sister's son, Scipione Caffarella, as Cardinal-Nephew. Not content with being a pope's nephew, Scipione becomes the adopted son of his uncle and is known thereafter as Scipione Borghese. He becomes the most unscrupulous collector the art world has ever seen."
Cathy pointed me to a treasure-trove blog, "The Pines of Rome," by an unnamed blogger (Tiffany?). It's loaded with info on art and Rome. She has several blogs on The Borghese Gallery. The first paragraph above is from
one of them. But before we continue, how do we get there?
Cathy's lovely
Google map shows that our apartment is just over a mile away. But, as we can't travel as the crow flies, some further investigation is in order. Rick Steves tells me that bus #910 goes from Termini train station (and Piazza Repubblica) to the Via Pinciana stop, 100 yards from the museum. And be sure to allow plenty of time because entrance is timed and you don't want to miss it.
Don't make the rookie mistake of showing up at the popular Galleria Borghese without tickets. Only 360 visitors are admitted every two hours (at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., and 5 p.m.), and advance tickets (about $14) are required before you can see the heartbreakingly beautiful works here, including those by Titian and Bernini. You can drop by a day or two in advance to make your reservation for a specific date and time, or reserve at
galleriaborghese.it. Then, collect your tickets in person at least 30 minutes before your scheduled admission time. And note that baggage check is free, mandatory, and strictly enforced. Even small purses must be checked, although the checkroom does not take coats (!?). And no photos allowed. You must check your camera (wonder how they handle phones?).
Back to Scipione...Scipione must have realized that as Cardinal-Nephew in corrupt 17th-century Rome, he would have more than ample access to any funds he might require, and so he traded his right of inheritance with his cousin Marcantonio, in exchange for every piece in the family's art collection. Despite his position of immense influence, he chose not to involve himself in affairs of state, and instead used his power to satisfy his obsession to possess the world's greatest art.
Now, boys and girls, get out your checklist of art you want to see:
In Room 1...Antonio Canova's Pauline Borghese as Venus. Yes, the Pauline (Paolina) that was Napoleon's sister.
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| Bernini's David |
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| Bernini's Apollo and Daphne |
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Room II...Bernini's David (with 25 year-old Bernini's face)
Room III...Bernini's Apollo and Daphne with her fingers turning to leaves.
More Bernini In Rooms IV (The Rape of Proserpina) and Room VI (Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius)
And in Room VII lots of Caravaggio. This room holds the greatest collection of Caravaggio paintings anywhere. His Self-Portrait as Bacchus shows Caravaggio as he first arrived in Rome.
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| Self-Portrait as Bacchus, 1593 |
Caravaggio's unique style combined two striking elements: uncompromising realism and stong Light-dark contrasts. His models were ordinary people with bodily flaws. He lived a reckless, agressive and short life.
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| Madonna of Palafrenieri, 1605-06 |
His Madonna of Palafrenieri was forbidden to hang in St. Peter's because the boy Jesus was naked, and the Modonna's likeness had been inspired by Rome's best-known prostitute.
The Borghese's collection continues with more Bernini's including painting and two self-portraits. The Gallery, of course contains much more than mentioned here.
Room IX has works by Raphael, including Deposition. (We'll see Caravaggio's Deposition in the Vatican Museum)
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| Raffaello Deposizione, 1507 |
Room XX closes with Titian's Sacred and Profane Love.
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| Titian, Sacred and Profane Love, 1515 |
And Rick Steve's concludes his tour with the following. "This exquisite painting expresses the spirit of the Renaissance - that earth and heaven are two sides of the same coin. And here in the Borghese Gallery, that love of earthly beauty can be spiritually uplifting - as long as you feel it within two hours."
Before we go will have to draw up a battle plan. Should we go early when we are fresh? Or will be be more crowded then? And remember it's closed on Monday.
Cathy pointed me to a treasure-trove blog, "The Pines of Rome," by an unnamed blogger (Tiffany?). It's loaded with info on art and Rome. She has several blogs on The Borghese Gallery. The first paragraph above is from one of them. But before we continue, how do we get there?
