Located in Rome, in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, Galleria Borghese is an art gallery housing some of the most magnificent pieces of art from painters and sculptors such as Antonio Canova, Bernini, Caravaggio, Raphael, and many more.
It’s a Museum that is definitely worth a visit if you’re in Rome! Book a private tour of Rome with local guides to discover all the details about this place and the beauty of its art!
The history of Borghese Gallery
Galleria Borghese consists of a two-story building with twenty rooms with more than 260 paintings but, as said before, it wasn’t always a museum…
At the end of the XVI century, a very rich family from Siena called “Borghese”, got a big land where they thought of building a huge park. As they got more popular in Rome, mostly because Camillo Borghese became Pope under the name of Paolo V in 1605, they chose to start building a Villa.
In 1902 the Villa and its gardens were sold to the Italian government and transformed into a National Museum.
In the latter half of the 20th century, Galleria Borghese was closed to the public and fully restored to get back to its original look. The restoration lasted for fourteen years but it was definitely worth it. The gallery was reopened in June 1997 and in 2013 it became the ninth most-visited Italian site!
The rooms
- MARIANO ROSSI HALL;
- PAOLINA ROOM;
- DAVID ROOM;
- APOLLO AND DAPHNE ROOM;
- ROOM OF THE EMPERORS;
- DIDO ROOM;
- HERCULES ROOM;
- ROOM OF FERRARESE PAINTING;
- ROOM OF THE BACCHANTES;
- FAME ROOM;
In 2006, Galleria Borghese launched a project called “Dieci Grandi Mostre” (Ten Big Exhibitions). Each year the museum would set up an exhibition (2006 – 2015) about the works of art of one of the many great artists that are housed in the gallery.
The Exhibitions
- 2006: Raphael, exploring his creative process;
- 2007: Antonio Canova, this exhibition housed more than 60 art pieces;
- 2008: Correggio and his relationship with ancient art;
- 2009: Caravaggio and Francis Bacon and their torment represented in art;
- 2010: Lucas Cranach Il Vecchio and the renaissance art;
- 2011: an exhibition made for the “the Ancient Bourgeois”
- 2012: Tiziano and his works of art;
- 2013: Dosso Dossi and his art;
- 2014: Domenichino and his work;
- 2015: Bernini, this was the last exhibition;
Galleria Borghese is a Museum that is definitely worth a visit if you’re in Rome! Book a private tour with us to discover all the details about this place and the beauty of its art!
