This is what it's like to visit the Borghese Gallery in Rome: opening hours, prices

To enjoy the great artistic wealth that the city of Rome, you can also include a visit to a museum in your travel plan.

Apart from the essentials Vatican Museums, where you can see the Sistine Chapel, and the also interesting ones Capitoline Museums, the Borghese Gallery It becomes a highly recommended visit, as we have confirmed on our most recent trip to the Italian capital.

To begin, let's take a look at the origins and history of this museum, which is undoubtedly the ideal place to see Bernini's most famous sculptures.

Interesting facts about the history of the Borghese Gallery

It all starts with Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V and one of the most voracious patrons of the 17th century.

A cardinal since the age of 26, he amassed power and influence with a clear objective: to surround himself with masterpieces. His method for acquiring them was not always orthodox.

When a clergyman refused to sell him some paintings Rafael, Scipio He managed to get himself imprisoned for incriminating correspondence. When he got out, the works had changed hands.

The villa that he ordered to be built between 1613 and 1625 in the Pincio Gardens It wasn't a typical residence, but a container designed from the outset to house his collection. The building at the service of art, not the other way around.

Sign up for the guided tour of the Borghese Gallery

If you're planning a visit to this museum, we recommend taking a guided tour, just like we did. You'll avoid queuing, ensure you have tickets, and, most importantly, learn everything you need to know. This museum is full of fascinating and unusual works of art, the details of which you'd never discover on your own.

We've included two links here with the Guided tour of the Borghese Gallery and the other tours available in Rome, plus a discount code for being readers of Guías Viajar: TRAVEL GUIDES5

• Guided tour of the Borghese Gallery
• Tours and guided visits in Rome

The cardinal discovered Bernini while still almost a teenager, he became the most important artist in Rome, the dominant figure of the 17th century, just like Miguel Angel It had been in the previous century.

What to see when visiting the Borghese Gallery

On Borghese Gallery museum you can see antiques from roman times, but, above all, works by some of the main artists of Renacimientoas the Tiziano , Caravaggio, o Bernini.

Bernini sculptures in the Borghese Gallery

The sculptures that Bernini carved for the collection between 1618 and 1625 remain, four centuries later, some of the most extraordinary works in the history of Western art.

Apollo and Daphne It captures the exact moment the nymph begins to transform into a laurel tree as she flees from the god. Her fingers become branches, her skin bark, her hair leaves. All in white marble. Bernini She was 23 years old when she finished it.

En The Rape of Proserpina, the fingers of Pluto They dig into the young woman's thigh with a pressure that feels real. It doesn't feel like stone. The trick is that Bernini He worked the marble by removing material irreversibly, without the possibility of correction.

Su David It also has nothing to do with the one of Miguel AngelWhere the Florentine displays calm before battle, the one from Bernini It is the battle itself: the body turned, the sling taut, the jaw clenched. It is said that the face is a self-portrait of the sculptor himself.

Paintings by Caravaggio, Titian and Raphael in the Borghese Gallery

The art gallery on the upper floor receives less attention than the sculptures. I'm telling you now, that's a mistake.

Caravaggio, He is represented by several works that illustrate his chiaroscuro technique: that light that emerges from the darkness like a theatrical spotlight: Boy with a basket of fruit, Saint Jerome writing, The Madonna of the Palafrenieri.

Scipio She protected the painter despite his violent nature and his conviction for homicide, and collected his work with determination.

De Tiziano , it stands out Sacred love and profane lovePainted when the artist was just over twenty years old, the work depicts two women on either side of a Roman sarcophagus: one clothed, the other nude.

The title came after the work, and scholars continue to debate its exact meaning.

Pauline Bonaparte in marble

Finally, one work that will truly impress you is the sculpture of Paolina Bonaparte.

In 1807, Napoleon married off his sister Pauline with the prince Camillo Borghese in a purely dynastic wedding.

PaulineA woman of renowned character and beauty, posed for Antonio Canova half-naked, lying down like Victorious Venus with an apple in his hand.

Interestingly, when asked how he had been able to pose like that, he replied that Canova's studio was well heated.

The sculpture rests on a rotating wooden base, also the work of Canova, which in the 19th century was mechanically operated so that visitors could contemplate it by candlelight.

Where is and how to get to the Borghese Gallery in Rome

This museum is located in the gardens known as Villa Borghese, located behind, among other areas, the Spain Square, in what is currently a large public park.

If you want to go on Metro, In A line you must get off at the station St. Paolo of Brazil.

The gallery is located in a large palace building which was built at the beginning of the 17th century specifically to house the cardinal's collection Scipiano Borghese.

Borghese Gallery visit schedules

The Visiting hours of the Borghese Gallery in Rome They are, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 19 p.m., with last entry time at 17:XNUMX p.m.

On Mondays the museum is closed to public visits.

The thing is that you can only enter the museum in the previously established schedules, and with a two-hour stay limit.

Entries are hourly with a maximum limit currently for each shift of just 180 people.

Borghese Gallery ticket prices

El price of admission to visit the Borghese Gallery It costs 18 euros, and it is essential to book online, even months in advance, as tickets sell out quickly due to the limited number of visitors allowed in each time slot.

Guided tours of the Borghese Gallery

Therefore, in practice, the best option is to sign up for a guided tour of the Borghese Gallery.

If you are interested in knowing in depth the Borghese GallerySpecifically, you can sign up for this tour with guide in Spanish , just as we did on our last trip to Rome, lasting two and a quarter hours and carried out by a specialized guide in history of art.