Galleria Borghese

Address: 5 Piazzale Scipione Borghese

Getting there:
Bus: several lines near the park entrance. Stop Pinciana – Museo Borghese.
Metro: Spagna station — about 20 minutes on foot through the park. Flaminio station, exit Piazza del Popolo — about 20 minutes on foot.
Taxi: ask specifically for “Galleria Borghese”, as “Museo Borghese / Villa Borghese” usually means the park. The taxi can drop you at the entrance.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 to 19:00 — last entry at 17:00. Evening visits at 21:00 or 22:00 may be available on some Wednesdays and Thursdays depending on the season: check beforehand. In July–August, occasional performances may be organised.

Booking: advance reservation is compulsory on the official website or via authorised resellers. Arrive 30 minutes before your slot for the compulsory cloakroom. Visits last two hours, with a sticker used for checks.

Tickets: full price €18; reduced €4 for EU citizens aged 18–25; free for children under 5 and for visitors with disabilities plus one companion.

Cafeteria: in the basement, next to the ticket office. Open from 9:00 to 19:00.

The grand salone of the Galleria Borghese, with statues, busts and frescoes

History

In 1605, Prince Camillo Borghese was elected pope as Paul V. He made his nephew Scipione Borghese a cardinal. Scipione decided to build, on the edge of Rome, a sumptuous villa surrounded by parks and “secret gardens” — that is, private ones.

Designed by architects Flaminio Ponzio and Giovanni Vasanzio between 1607 and 1616, this “casino” — a pavilion outside the city for receiving guests — was above all a setting for displaying his art collection.

The collection was built through regular purchases and, with the support of his uncle Paul V, also through coercion — works by Cavalier d'Arpino, Domenichino, and even a Raphael Deposition taken from Perugia.

In a twist of fate, in 1807 Prince Camillo Borghese, husband of Pauline Bonaparte, was forced to sell — or rather give — a large number of the collection's Roman sculptures to France.

In 1902 the Italian state bought the casino and the entire collection from the Borghese family to create the Museo Borghese.

Ornate interior of the Galleria Borghese, niches and marble statues

Outside the museum

Behind the gallery, the Parco dei Daini is a shaded area of monumental vases and statues. Free access from 9:00 to 19:00.

Framing the gallery, the “secret gardens” are four Baroque gardens originally reserved for the prince and his guests. They are currently open and free, though sometimes closed for works.

Visiting the gallery

You only have two hours — badge checks are fairly strict. To avoid crowds clustering around ground-floor works, start with the first-floor picture gallery.

First-floor picture gallery

Caravaggio room: Boy with a Basket of Fruit; the young Bacchus; above all David with the Head of Goliath; Madonna of the Palafrenieri — rejected by the Church as too realistic.

Caravaggio's Boy with a Basket of Fruit at the Galleria Borghese

Raphael room: above all his Deposition; Lady with a Unicorn.

Raphael's Deposition at the Galleria Borghese

Titian room: the enigmatic Sacred and Profane Love.

The ceilings of the picture gallery are decorated with 18th-century frescoes.

Then return to the ground floor, once visitors have spread out, to linger over the details of the masterpieces on display.

Works by Bernini

The Rape of Proserpina — look at: the god's fingers pressing into Ceres' daughter's flesh.

Bernini's Rape of Proserpina at the Galleria Borghese

Detail of hands in the flesh, Bernini's Rape of Proserpina

Apollo and Daphne — look at: the laurel beginning to grow from the nymph's body.

Bernini's Apollo and Daphne at the Galleria Borghese

Detail of laurel growing on Daphne's fingers, Bernini sculpture

David — look at: the tension in the muscles and face.

Bernini's David at the Galleria Borghese

Aeneas — look at: the faces of the three ages of life.

Aeneas carrying Anchises, Bernini sculpture at the Galleria Borghese

Work by Canova

Pauline Borghese semi-nude on a couch — look at: the rendering of the cushions that seem real.

Pauline Borghese semi-nude on a couch, Canova sculpture

Roman antiquity

Gladiator mosaic — look at: the equipment of gladiators and hunters, far from Hollywood films.

Gladiator mosaic at the Galleria Borghese

Sleeping Hermaphrodite — look at: the very feminine posture from behind and the surprise of the sex from the front.

Roman works: do not linger on them; focus on the masterpieces. They pass quickly among this hundred or so sculptures and busts.

Leaving

After collecting your bags — do not lose your ticket with the barcode.

You can reach the Spanish Steps through the park with its small neoclassical temples, fountains and sculptures; or Piazza del Popolo via the Pincio and its view over Rome.