Galleria Borghese – Rome

Located inside the park of the homonymous Villa designed in 1607 by the architect Flaminio Ponzio, the Galleria Borghese houses the collection originally constituted by Cardinal Scipione Borghese at the beginning of the seventeenth century: the original nucleus of the collection dates back to 1607, when Scipione acquired 107 paintings confiscated from the Cavalier d’Arpino.

Over the following centuries, the collection was increased thanks to acquisitions of the cardinal’s successors, creating a very prestigious collection.

In 1807, the rich collection was affected by the sale of 154 statues, 160 busts, 170 bas-reliefs, 30 columns and various vases which forms the Borghese section of the Musée du Louvre; however, the serious gaps were soon remedied during the third decade of the Nineteenth century thanks to other material deriving from archaeological excavations.

The rich Borghese collection now preserves sculptures, bas-reliefs, ancient mosaics and paintings from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, such as masterpieces by Antonello da Messina, Giovanni Bellini, Raffaello, Titian, Correggio, Caravaggio and beautiful sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Canova.