Villa Borghese gardens

Villa Borghese is the name of a park area with an art museum in Rome.

Villa

At the site lead four inputs: on the Via Pinciana, Piazza H. Sienkiewicz, Piazzale Brasile and Piazzale Flaminio. The access to the casino, where the art collection of the Borghese Gallery is housed, is located at Piazzale Scipione Borghese 5

The villa with its extensive parks (5 km ² ) was the summer palace of the Borghese princely family. The site had been in 1605 by Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V. acquired, allegedly with the confiscated assets of the Cenci family.

Originally belonged to the premises vineyards, gardens, stables and coach houses, as well as a zoo with rare animals and plants, an aviary and water games. Already in the 17th century but it was already famous for its treasures of ancient art. The casino was built in 1613-1616 under the supervision of architects Giovanni and Flaminio Ponzio Vasanzio.

In the years 1898/99, it served the Pontifical Portuguese College as a guest.

Since 1901, the villa is owned by the state.

Galleria Borghese

The gallery, which is one of the most famous and most valuable private art collections in the world, goes back to the collecting activities of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, who was also the owner of the casino, in which the collection is housed. Only little remains of the first interior decoration and painting of the building, including at least the frescoes by Claude Deruet in the private chapel of the Cardinal. The casino itself was originally only the antiques and sculptures of the cardinal, while the paintings hung mostly in the city of Villa Borghese in Rome. The collection remained until the 19th century, with few losses fairly intact and also received valuable additions. 1682 was a part of the heritage of Olimpia Aldobrandini, including images from the collections of Lucrezia d' Este, in the museum. 1827 acquired Camillo Borghese in Paris Correggio's Danae. Beginning of the 19th century, the archaeological inventory was expanded by finds from the excavations that were carried out at the instigation of Marcantonio Borghese on the possessions of the family. There the statue so-called casino was established that contains a rich collection of some of important antiquities, including the seated statue of Anacreon, a Bacchus, a Juno Pronuba, a Tyrtäosstatue, a sitting Pluto and the statue of a dancing Silen.

For serious losses occurred in the course of the marriage between Camillo Borghese and Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon's sister. Under pressure from Napoleon, the Duke had a number of works of art to sell, some of which are now one of the highlights of the Louvre. The gallery lost a total of 154 statues, 160 busts, 170 bas-reliefs, 30 columns and several vases of France.

The collection includes, among other works by Antonello da Messina, Bronzino, Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Guido Reni, Rubens, Antonio Tempesta, Titian and Veronese and sculptures by Bernini and Canova.

Park

Park

Fountain

Paintings and Sculptures of the Galleria

(Selection)

Giovanni Bellini: Madonna

Angelo Bronzino: St. John the Baptist - Giovanni Battista

Caravaggio: Boy with a Basket of Fruit, 1593/94

Caravaggio: David with the Head of Goliath, 1605/ 06

Raphael: Young Woman with Unicorn

Jacopo Bassano: The Last Supper