Borghese Gallery

Location:	ROME Via Pinciana
Opening time: Tues. to Sat. 9-19, Sun. 9-13 • closed Mon. public property HISTORY AND SITE The Borghese Mansion was commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese to Flaminio Ponzio and Vasanzio and built between 1613 and 1614. Site of Cardinal Borghese's art collection, its extraordinary masterpieces contributed to make it renowned all over Europe. This was the reason why Napoleon, in 1807, bought a consistent part of the collection and transferred it to the Louvre were is still on exhibition. New material was added during the whole of the19th century; in 1902, the collection was acquired by the Italian State along with the Mansion and the entire Borghese property. SCULPTURE The museum houses an important collection of works by Canova, whose Victorious Venus (1805), internationally known as Paolina Bonaparte, is the most famous piece in the museum and virtually its symbol. Cardinal Borghese, Gian Lorenzo Bernini's protector, included in his collection a great number of works by the artist, amongst which Aeneas and Anchises (1618), Paolo V's Bust (1621), Apollo and Daphne (1622), the Abduction of Proserpina (1622), David (whose face is a self-portrait) and Cardinal Scipione Borghes's Bust are the most remarkable. The collection of ancient statuary is also particularly interesting. The Gypsy Girl by N. Cordier (1607) and the Self-Portrait by Bernini are among the works recently conserved.

Places