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Galleria Borghese

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Editor Pick

Galleria Borghese

Galleria Borghese

If you’re wondering what the Galleria Borghese is, it’s a renowned art gallery situated in the lovely property of Villa Borghese in Rome. It is owned by one of Italy’s royal families – the Borghese family.

We visited this gallery in the late afternoon after visiting both the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. Reservations are required in order to visit the gallery so we booked our reservation two months ahead of time for a 5pm reservation. You are required to pick up your tickets 30 minutes prior to your reservation. Galleria Borghese is part of the Roma Pass (see my review of Palatine Hill for more details) so admission was free for us, not to mention, the reservation fee of 2 euros was also waivered. Regular admission is 6.50 euros plus a mandatory reservation fee of 2 euros for a total of 8.50 euros. Reservations can be made online with their official website or over the phone.

I really enjoyed the intimate nature of the Borghese Gallery. The rooms are tastefully decorated with gorgeous sculptures and paintings. If you’re a fan of Bernini’s works, this is the place to go – I’ve never seen so many Bernini sculptures in my life. My particular favourite had to be Apollo & Daphne because of its intricate details. The fact that only 200 people are allowed in at one time makes it crowd-free and allows the visitor to not feel overwhelmed. Photography is banned so don’t think about taking any pictures.

The grounds of Villa Borghese are lovely with the manicured lawns and beautiful stairs. There are often people milling about admiring the property. I actually preferred this art gallery to the others that I’ve visited such as the Louvre. Don’t get me wrong, the Louvre is stunning but at the same time, the crowds are massive and overwhelming. If you include this place as one of the first two sights for the Roma Pass along with Colosseum and Palatine Hill, you’ve practically broke even and there’s still three days worth of metro/bus rides! I would absolutely recommend Galleria Borghese to anyone visiting Rome – it’s a beautiful estate and completely worth your time.

To get back to the metro station, take Bus 491 on the edge of the Villa Borghese property and it will let you off at Spagna metro station where you can transfer to your preferred station.

From journal When in Rome...

Editor Pick

Galleria Borghese

  • May 22, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by artslover from Calgary, Alberta
Galleria Borghese

This is an extremely popular art museum and reservations are required. We reserved and bought our tickets through Tickitaly (www.tickitaly.com) before we left on vacation. Three tickets, reservation fee, and the fee from the company was €42 or €14 each. It was a good thing we reserved because when we arrived on Sunday for our reservation, they had a sign indicating no more tickets were available until Tuesday. Tickets for the Galleria Borghese have to be reserved for a specific two hour time slot. They are very rigid about entry and sweep you out at the end of the two hours.

The Villa Borghese is located in a huge park near the Spanish Steps. If you go, plan to include some time to wander in the park, have a picnic or rent a bicycle to ride along the many pathways. It's a beautiful large area of green in a crowded city.

Like the art gallery at Palazzo Barberini, the Galleria Borghese is also in a former home (palace) of a rich and powerful family with popes and art collectors in their history. They make you check all bags and coats in a locked box. This was the only place that made me turn over my purse, usually a woman's borsa was fine but backpacks were not. Again, no photos allowed.

Highlights in the collection were Caravaggio's Young Sick Bacchus, Boy with a Basket of Fruit, Portrait of Pope Paul V, Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge, Madonna and Child with St. Anne (M. de Palafrenieri), David with the Head of Goliath, John the Baptist; Bernini's amazing statues Aeneas and Anchises, Rape of Proserpine, Apollo and Daphne, David, Bust of Cardinal Scipione Borghese; Raphael's Deposition, Lady with Unicorn, Portrait of a Man, Julius II; and Titian's Sacred and Profane Love. If you aren't familiar with these works, especially the Berninis, find an art history book. Simon Schama's book, the Power of Art has some good illustrations of these works. The sculptures are unbelievable. Bernini has managed to make marble look like pliable flesh.

There is also a cafeteria and cafe in the basement and a bookshop with souvenirs, posters, and art books.

Outside, there are beautiful gardens surrounding the palazzo. So many flowers were already in bloom.

From journal A Week in Rome to Wine, Dine, and Tour

Galleria Borghese

  • December 21, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by mucher from Krakow, North Dakota, Poland
It lures you with the tagname of "Greatest private art collection in the world" and that's not just boasting. One of the few Roman places that REQUIRE reservation (2 Euro fee), it had me captivated for the whole two hours. Downstairs, at the sculptures exhibition (dominated by Bernini's masterpieces) one can hardly decide whether to appreciate them - or the breathtakingly decorated rooms.

Upstairs - the picture gallery - is just as impressive, despite the modest decor. But that hardly matters when what you see is the Titian's 'Sacred and Profane Love', or Caravaggio's masterpieces (don't forget the St. Louis the French's church for more of these).

And, there's the beautifully Borghese Park around for you to relax and wander a little...

From journal Long Weekend in Rome

Editor Pick

Galleria Borghese

  • July 3, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by mre16 from Easton, Maryland
Galleria Borghese

The incredible backdrop of the Galleria Borghese sets the tone for a dramatic and fascinating stroll through this incredible collection. We walked to the museum under a canopy of enormous trees and enjoyed locals too engrossed in their game of Bocci ball being played under the dappled sunshine to notice us.

Our trip to Italy became the "Quest for Caravaggio" and in this museum we hit the jackpot (including "Sick Bacchus", "Boy with a Basket of Fruit", "Madonna dei Palafrenieri", "St. Jerome", "St. John the Baptiste" and "David with the Head of Goliath"). But, as much as I'm mystified by Caravaggio's work, I have to admit that I also became an admirer of Bernini's as well. His marble pieces are so true to life that you expect the pieces are going to keep running or leap off their pedestals. This museum has an incredible collection including those mentioned as well as Titian, Raphael, and Canova to name a few.

The museum was completely renovated in 1997 and it's extraordinary. Only 300 visitors are allowed at a time. When we visited, admissions were only available at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm and admission was €8.50—well worth it.

From journal Roman Holiday

Editor Pick

Galleria Borghese

  • August 6, 2005
  • Rated 5 of 5 by italylover from St. Louis, Missouri
Galleria Borghese

Galleria Borghese is a fairly small museum (compared to the Vatican, at least) located in Villa Borghese, but it just so happens to be my favorite. The museum is a little out of the way, on the eastern end of the park and not terribly close to the historic center of Rome, but if you have the time, it’s well worth the trip (plus you get to take a stroll through the park, which is also beautiful). The building itself was the home of Cardinal Scipione, and the collection was his as well. Scipione clearly had good taste, and many of the works are Baroque masterpieces.

Here you can find Canova's nude sculpture of Pauline Bonaparte (yep, that's Napoleon's sister), as well as several excellent Caravaggio paintings (there‘s a particularly striking piece of David holding the head of Goliath). The real highlights, however, are the Bernini sculptures. In addition to a sculpture of David, one rumored to be an early forgery done by Bernini, and one of Scipione himself, three mythological sculptures - Apollo and Daphne, Aeneas Fleeing Troy, and The Rape of Proserpina - are pieces that Bernini finished in his early 20s. The sculptures are displayed so that admirers can get close to them and walk all the way around them, allowing vantage points to take in Bernini's attention to detail. The Rape of Proserpina ("rape" being used in the classical sense, meaning "abduction") is my particular favorite. Pluto's hand squeezes down on her thigh, making her skin puff up in between his fingers, a few tears stream down her face, her hand pulls back the skin around his eyes as she struggles to get away - all perfectly realistic, and all done in marble.

I've heard that you are supposed to call ahead to reserve tickets for the museum, but I went three times and never booked my tickets ahead of time, so I'm not sure how necessary reservations actually are. If you're going over the summer and have a limited schedule, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea. Your ticket will admit you for just two hours, with a half hour visit to the painting gallery included in that chunk of time. The gallery has some interesting pieces by Titian, Raphael, and Antonello di Messina, which can be worth a viewing. But if you're a big fan of Bernini or Caravaggio (his works are displayed in the main gallery), you might want to consider spending your two hours on them - it's just barely long enough.

From journal A Study Abroad Semester in Rome

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