Rome Attractions

Venue: Galleria Borghese    When: Daily; not Mon

The Galleria Borghese is a treasure trove of 17th-century art and sculpture. Including masterpieces by sculptor Bernini and painter Caravaggio, it is the finest private art collection in Italy. The works were assembled by Scipione Borghese and are displayed in the ornate marble mansion he had built for the purpose between 1613 and 1616.

Scipione Borghese was the powerful nephew of Pope Paul V. The man for whom the term "nepotism" was coined, Scipione himself features in his collection in a masterful sculpture by Bernini of his patron. He may have been cruel, intractable and thoroughly unpleasant but his eye for great art was undeniable and today his collection is arguably the finest in Rome. It includes works by Titian, Rubens, Raphael and Canova.

Highlights of a visit include Bernini's sculpture of Apollo and Daphne in which the wood nymph's prayer to be spared a ravishing by Apollo are answered when she is turned into a tree before your very eyes. Bernini made the work from one piece of Carrara marble and as you walk around it, the nymph's fingers become leaves and her feet transform into roots. The Caravaggio room includes more works by the master in one room than can be seen anywhere else in the world. They include his early self-portrait as a Sick Bacchus, his alluring Boy with a basket of fruit, a thoughtful St Jerome and the terrifying David with the head of Goliath in which the painter's own face appears as the decapitated head of Goliath.

Intricate marble inlay floors enhanced by the odd purloined ancient Roman mosaic make a grand enough setting for this extraordinary art collection, assembled by one of the most powerful men Rome has ever known.