The Galleria Borghese is in a sumptuous villa built by Scipione Borghese in the early 17th century. Scipione Borghese was a cardinal and the nephew of Pope Paul V. He had special status and unlimited budget as the "cardinal nipote" of the Pope, bought up a lot of land, which is now the Villa Borghese on the north side of Rome, and had a fantastic eye for art. He was an early patron of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, acquired Caravaggio paintings that were rejected as too shocking (Caravaggio's "Madonna of the Palafrenieri" was removed from St. Peter's after only a month but happily wound up in the Borghese collection). The building was built for the purpose of displaying Cardinal Borghese's art collection and for entertaining. Each room is anchored by an important artwork and surrounded by complementary works.
Among the major pieces that we saw were Bernini's masterful early works, including "David," "Apollo and Daphne" and "The Rape of Proserpina." Canova's neo-classical master portrait of Pauline Bonaparte is there, surrounded by antique goddesses similarly attired. The painting collection includes important works by Titian, Domenichino, Raphael, and many others. There is also a large collection of antique statues and reliefs. The entire collection is outstanding. I only wish I had more pictures to post, but since I don't, here's a website in case you are interested in seeing more of this fabulous collection: http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/edefault.htm
Our two-hour time allotment ended too soon. We then had a couple of hours until Laura had to leave for the airport to get her flight back to Barcelona. We found a restaurant nearby with delicious pizza, had lunch and then headed to the Spanish Steps. Like the Trevi Fountain the night before, the Spanish Steps were filled with tourists, but no matter, they were still a beautiful sight. We walked from top to bottom and then continued down Via Condotti, looking at the windows of all the elegant and expensive shops.
After walking back to our apartment (passing through Piazza Navona once again) and sending Laura on her way to the airport, the rest of us collapsed. We took long naps. Guess we needed to give our feet and everything else a good break. We didn't venture out again until this evening when we went to one of Sara's favorite restaurants (Fatto in Casa) for dinner. The food was great! Steve's meal included a beverage, but Evan ordered his separately. They were surprised and amused (well, at least Evan was amused) to discover their beers were different sizes. We ordered four different kinds of pasta and shared them, and then topped off the meal with tiramisu.
No comments:
Post a Comment