Works in Focus
Portrait of Alexander
PORTRAIT OF ALEXANDER - 1st Century AD In this portrait of Alexander, featured in the Borghese Gallery, the head is mounted on a modern bust. Alexander’s hair falls thickly onto the nape of his neck like a lion’s mane in the manner celebrated by Plutarch. From the back of [...]
Boy with Basket of Fruit
BOY WITH BASKET OF FRUIT - Caravaggio 1594 During his apprenticeship with Giuseppe Cesari, Caravaggio created the painting entitled Boy with fruit basket which was later seized by Pope Paul V and given to Cardinal Scipione Borghese. Caravaggio, Boy with fruit basket, 1593-1594, oil on canvas, 70 x [...]
Sarcophagus Showing Sacrifice of Minos to Poseidon
Sarcophagus Showing Sacrifice of Minos to Poseidon (160-180 A.D.) Fragment of side of sarcophagus showing the sacrifice of Minos to Poseidon Italian marble 78 x 80 cm Inv. no. LXI Part of the original Borghese Collection, this relief forms the right side of the only surviving sarcophagus depicting [...]
Statue of Nymph Restored as Muse
Statue of Nymph Restored as Muse (1 Century A.D.) The figure is resting on its left leg, while the bent right leg is placed slightly behind to one side. The outstretched left hand formerly held an ~ attribute (substituted_in the restoration by a globe); the right arm hangs down [...]
Colossal head of Hera
COLOSSAL HEAD OF HERA (140-150 A.D.) The goddess has a broad forehead, made triangular in shape by a frame of large tresses of hair separated by deeply sculpted waves and kept in place by a hairband. Her face is elon¬gated by her rounded chin.. Above her large eyes, [...]
Venus Genetrix
Venus Genetrix (1 Century A.D.) The woman is portrayed.as she is about. to_undress, foreshadowing the nudity revealed by Praxiteles. Resting on her left leg, with her right foot placed behind and just touching the ground with the toes, she twists her body with a rapid motion, lifting the edge [...]
Colossal portrait of Hadrian
Colossal portrait of Hadrian (140 A.D.) The head reproduces the features of the elderly emperor. The provenance of the portrait from the Palazzo Borghese at Campo Marzio in Rome is confirmed by both the archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann and the inventory of the palace's furnishings compiled in 1812, when [...]
Vase of Flowers
VASE OF FLOWERS - Jan Brueghel the Elder 1590 ca. Executed with the same technique - although, due to the different dimensions, not pendants - these paintings, datable to the last decade of the 16th century, should be considered together because of the evident similarities in the way the [...]
Colossal portrait of Antoninus Pius
Colossal portrait of Antoninus Pius (160 A.D.) The portrait, reworked in modern times, portrays the emperor who acceded to the throne in A.D. 141. According to the in-ventory of the furnishings in the Palazzo Borghese at Campo Marzio compiled in 1812, it was located in this building in a [...]
Rape of Persephone
RAPE OF PERSEPHONE - Bernini 1621 It is almost unbelievable to think that Gian Lorenzo Bernini, when he was going to make one of his most celebrated masterpieces, the Ratto di Proserpina, was only twenty-three years old: yet, despite his very young age, he was already an established [...]
Self Portrait as Bacchus
SELF PORTRAIT AS BACCHUS - Caravaggio 1606 A self-portrait of Caravaggio made during his stay at the Consolation hospital. The Bacchino malato was donated to Cardinal Scipione Borghese by Pope Paul V and, therefore, housed in the family collection. Caravaggio, Bacchino sick, 1593-1594, oil on canvas, 67 x [...]
Female Torso of Grande Ercolanese
FEMALE TORSE OF THE GRANDE ERCOLANESE- II Cent. AD This figure derives from the Attic model, perhaps by a follower of Praxiteles, and is traditionally known as the Grande Ercolanese, because of one of the most famous copies of this model was found in the theatre of the [...]
St John the Baptist
SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST - Caravaggio 1610 The San Giovanni Battista is a subject that we often find in Caravaggio. Among the most famous versions I remind you that of the Capitoline Museums, that of the Nelson Gallery in Kansas City and that of the Corsini Gallery in Rome. [...]
Diane et Actaeon Cesari
DIANA ET ACTAEON - Bernardino Cesari 1610 ca. According to a Greek myth, Actaeon, the son of Aristaeus and Autonoe, surprises Diana, the Greek Artemis, while she was bathing with her nymphs. As a punishment she turned him into a stag and, no longer recognized by his pack of [...]
STATUE OF ARTEMIS
STATUE OF ARTEMIS (220 A.D.) The portrait represents a mature woman with a face that is still full. Her hair is parted in the middle and drawn tightly at the sides, leaving her ears free. At the top of her nape long false plaits form a turban on which [...]
STATUE OF FIGHTING SATYR
STATUE OF FIGHTING SATYR (120-140 A.D.) This over lifesize statue of a satyr is derived from a bronze by a follower of Lysippus. Its resemblance to an llaliot terracotta suggests that the original was at Tarentum where other colossal gods by Lysippus were to be found. Here Cicero [...]
Relief Showing Ajax and Cassandra
Relief Showing Ajax and Cassandra (1 Century A.D.) The male figure is naked except for a short cloak, which, because of his movement, billows out behind him. The girl is depicted at the moment when she clutches the image of Athena; with her left arm she embraces the statue, [...]
David with the Head of Goliath
DAVID WITH HEAD OF GOLIATH - Caravaggio 1606 Sent with the request for supplication to Pope Paul V, David with the head of Goliath, painted by Caravaggio in 1609, hides, perhaps, a double portrait of the artist. Caravaggio, David with the head of Goliath, 1609, oil on canvas, [...]
View of the Villa
VIEW OF THE VILLA BORGHESE - Johan Wilhelm Baur 1636. Unlike Abraham van Cuylenborch’s view of the Villa Borghese, this painting shows the building, with some variations, closer at hand, with larger figures thronging the foreground. The view shows the double flight of steps, based on the one that [...]
Portrait of a Man
PORTRAIT OF A MAN - Rapahel 1510 ca. This painting is listed in and 18th century inventory of the Borghese gallery as a work by Raphael, but after the fidei commission of 1833 it was attributed to Holbein, without specifying whether the reference was to Hand Holbein or [...]
Togate figure
STATUE OF Togate figure (75 A.D.) Although it has lost its original head. I the overall state of preservation of the statue allows it to be critically as¬sessed. The drapery that falls over the folds crossing the front of the body suggests it should be dated to a period [...]
Herm of Bacchus
Herm of Bacchus - Valadier 1773 Recorded as being on the ground floor of the Villa Borghese in the first half of the 19th century, this work, executed in 1773, was greatly admired by the archaeologist Antonio Nibby. Although he believed it to be antique — without, however, [...]
David
DAVID - Bernini 1623 The David sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini enhances the physical qualities of the young biblical character, striving to throw the stone at Goliath. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, David, 1623-1624, marble, h 170 cm. Rome, Galleria Borghese DESCRIPTION David stands with his chest turned to his right. [...]
Deposition – Giovanni Battista Benvenuti
DEPOSITION - Ortolano 1515 Art historians have been able to date the present work, exposed in the Borghese Gallery, by comparing its subject matter with that of Ortolano's Deposition, now in the Galleria di Capodimonte in Naples: in both paintings the figure of St Christopher is crossing the river in the [...]
Cloaked Boys
Cloaked Boys (2 Century A.D.) Three figures of boys wearing the cloak and hood known as the caracalla are placed in the corners of the room. They are genii linked to wealth, health (like the small Telesphorus in the group with Asclepius in room VI, no. 13b) or [...]
Apollo e Dafne
APOLLO E DAFNE Gian Lorenzo Bernini created for Cardinal Scipione Borghese an unprecedented masterpiece depicting the metamorphosis in laurel of the Nanny caste, Dafne, pursued in vain by Apollo, god of light. Cupid is offended by the words of the god so triggers a love tragedy. The Apollo [...]
Portrait of a Women
Portrait of a Women (92 A.D.) Displayed in 1 the niche next to the previous work, this is a portrait of a-woman: the modelling and pose — the head is turning slightly to’ the right — are typical of the classicizing.style, which is ‘Stressed by the technique used [...]
Head of Goddess restored as Isis
Head of Goddess Restored as Isis (140 A.D.) The bust stands on a pedestal bearing a relief on the front depicting two bulls facing each other and flanking a basket of fruit on two scroll ornaments. The figure is wearing a short cloak fastened on her right shoulder [...]
Andromeda
ANDROMEDA - Rutilio Manetti 1612 Chained by her wrists to a rock, Andromeda gazes with terror at the sea, where a monster threateningly opens its jaws; in the background, in the sky, Purseus appears on the winged horse Pegasus. According to the mythological account, Andromeda‘s mother, Cassiopea, the [...]
Statue of Sleeping Hermaphrodite
STATUE OF SLEEPING HERMAPHRODITE The Sleeping Hermaphrodite is a marble sculpture depicting the character of Greek mythology Hermaphrodite, son of Hermes and Aphrodite, life-size. There are numerous ancient examples and modern copies; the most famous is the one today at the Louvre Museum, where the statue lies on [...]
Torso of seated Apollo
Torso of seated Apollo (125 A.D.) This sculpture is conserved from the ab-domen to the neck. The head must have been inclined forwards to the left. The figure was seated, as the very evident folds in the abdomen demonstrate. The left arm was bent behind the head; the right [...]
Truth unveiled
Truth unveiled (1647 A.D.) Unlike most of Bernini's sculptural groups in the Galleria Borghese, Truth Unveiled was not executed by the artist as the result of a commission, it was de¬scribed in a letter that the duke of Brac- ciano — Paolo Giordano II Orsini —- sent to Cardinal [...]
Apollo & Daphne – Dosso Dossi
APOLLO AND DAPHNE - Dossi 1525 The painting preserved today at the Galleria Borghese in Rome, actually comes from Ferrara, and according to some critics it would have been made, perhaps by the same Duke of Este, for the Palazzina della Rosa, which Alfonso I had built for his [...]
Sarcophagus Showing Apollo and the Muses
Sarcophagus Showing Apollo and the Muses (220-230 A.D.) Coming from the Giardino del Lago, the two slabs were restored by Antonio D’Este early in 1827. They were re- moved from the east facade of the villa when various antiquities were taken to France during the Napoleonic occupation; they remained [...]
Portrait of Menander
Portrait of Menander ( 1st Century A.D.) Only the torso, the tops of the arms, the legs up to the middle of the thighs and the beginning of the tail — which accounts for its restoration as a satyr— are antique. Up to the elbow, the posture of the [...]
Judith with head of Holofernes
JUDITH WITH HEAD OF HOLOFERNES - Baglione 1608 The story of the assassination of Holofernes, taken from the Old Testament, was the favorite theme of Caravaggio's followers in the early 17th century, and, in particular, it is a frequent subject in the work of Gentileschi, who was familiar with [...]
Sarcophagus with battle scene
SARCOPHAGUS WITH BATTLE SCENE (200 A.D.) The battle scene is flanked by trophies and by two barbarian couples with the same clothes and in similar poses: the men are wearing tunics, breeches and cloaks, and are shod in caligae (sandals), secured by thongs and visible on the fig¬ure on [...]
Venus and Mars
Venus and Mars (54 A.D.) This is one of numerous copies of the group of Venus and Mars, an eclectic composition of the Roman pe¬riod resulting from the juxtaposition of two types of Greek origin. Venus, in fact, is based on the model of the Aphrodite of Capua: the [...]
STATUE OF CLAUDIUS AS JUPITER
STATUE OF CLAUDIUS AS JUPITER (54 A.D.) Discovered during the excavations at Vigna Lucidi, at Santa Croce, near Frascati, carried out in 1820 (belonging to the Borghese, the Vigna had been leased to Cesare Lucidi), the statue portrays an emperor who, in the 19th-century documents, is identified as [...]
Virgin and Child – Bellini
VIRGIN AND CHILD - Bellini 1510 The Madonna and Child is an oil painting on wood (50x41 cm) by Giovanni Bellini, dating back to around 1510 and kept in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. The pose of the virgin, who is holding the Child with her left arm and [...]
STATUE OF A SLEEPING NYMPH
STATUE OF A SLEEPING NYMPH (220 A.D.) The sleeping figure is lying on a plinth simulating rocky ground: the bent left arm rests on an amphora from which flows water, imitated with conventional waves; the right arm is bent over the chest, concealing a breast. The right hand rests [...]
MARCUS CURTIUS THROWING HIMSELF INTO A CHASM
MARCUS CURTIUS THROWING HIMSELF INTO A CHASM - Pietro Bernini 1617 The imposing sculptural group is the result of successive reworkings of an ancient archeological find, a horse carved in Pentelic marble that was restored by the sculptor Pietro Bernini, Gian Lorenzo's father, in 1617. At the same time [...]
Leda Seated with the Swan
Leda Seated with the Swan (30-37 A.D.) The head, placed on a slender neck, is that of a mature woman with an oval face and a small mouth with full lips. Her hair, parted in the centre, is rendered with gentle waves and held in place with a [...]
Father and Daughter
FATHER AND DAUGHTER - AD 150 After its restoration with the head, Antonio Nibby identified this sculptural group of a father and his daughter as Liber and Libera. The head represents Dionysus wearing a headband and crowned with ivy; not originally part of the group, it comes from a [...]
Melissa Dosso Dossi
MELISSA - Dosso Dossi 1518 Giovanni di Niccolò Luteri, known as Dosso Dossi, was the main artist active in the early sixteenth century at the Este court in Ferrara, a city in the north-east of Italy. He was the interpreter of the fantastic and evocative evocations of the [...]
COLOSSAL STATUE OF DIONYSUS
COLOSSAL STATUE OF DIONYSUS (1st Century B.C.) Although only the torso is antique, the statue has been excellently restored as a representation of Dionysus. The weight of the figure is on the right leg, while the left is bent forwards. The right arm stretched up-wards and holding a bunch [...]
St Jerome
SAINT JEROME - Caravaggio 1606 This painting was made by Caravaggio for Scipione Borghese, now a faithful admirer of the artist. He was among the first works of the artist to become part of the collection of the powerful cardinal. Probably Caravaggio wanted to thank him with this painting [...]
Pauline Bonaparte
PAULINE BONAPARTE - Canova 1805 Paolina Bonaparte is sculpted like a Winning Venus. As in the case of all sculpture of the second half of the eighteenth century, even in this work by Canova the moving forms, richly decorated, with strong contrasts, are replaced with sculptures with rigorous [...]
Madonna dei Palafrenieri
MADONNA DEI PALAFRENIERI - Caravaggio 1606 Commissioned by the confraternity of the Palafrenieri, this painting was originally intended for Saint Ann's chapel in St. Peter's. The prestigious confraternity was established in Rome in 1378 by the pontifical Palafrenieri, responsible for the Vatican stables and still active today. The protagonists [...]
MOSAIC WITH GLADIATORS
MOSAIC WITH GLADIATORS (325 A.D.) This is a large floor discovered by peasants on the Torrenuova estate, on tHE Via Casilina, on 20 August 1834. The mosaic, consisting of polychrome tesserae, adorned the cryptoporticus of a villa. Detached in sections and taken to the Casina dell'Orologio at the Villa [...]
Portrait statue of Salonina
Portrait statue of Salonina (260 A.D.) This cloaked woman is wearing a slola with a dense series of folds, girt under the breast with a knotted ribbon; the palla, with very deep folds, leaves her right arm bare and is drawn over her head. The cloth flows over her [...]
Aeneas and Anchises
AENEAS AND ANCHISES - Bernini 1619 The work, whose historicized title is Enea and Anchise, was commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese and is considered the first modern sculpture exhibited in the Borghese Gallery. According to Domenico Bernini (son of Gian Lorenzo) it was dated to 1613 and so the [...]
STATUE OF SERAPIS
STATUE OF SERAPIS (2nd century A.D.) The god is portrayed sitting on an un- ornamented throne, with a footrest. He is wearing a long tunic with short sleeves, a cloak, wrapped round his legs with one end hanging over his left shoulder, and sandals. The restored right arm is [...]
Portrait of Britannicus
Portrait of Britannicus (50 A.D.) This portrait of a young man with a fleshy face is displayed in an oval niche. His eyes have thick. clearly incised lids; he has full lips and a promnent chin. His hair forms a compact mass of curls, which, departing from the back [...]
Colossal head of Isis
COLOSSAL HEAD OF ISIS (160-180 A.D.) Only the front part of the head, including the ears and the top of the neck, is antique. Next to the modern lotus, attached to the top of forehead, there is an old mount, with a mark left by a crown, perhaps made of [...]
STATUE OF ARTEMIS
STATUE OF ARTEMIS (140 A.D.) The head has a regular, symmetrically oval shape, the chin is small, as is the half-open mouth; the thick-lidded eyes are elongated and a slight reduction in size of the left eye may be noticed, which may indicate that originally the head was inclined [...]
