Borghese Gallery Guides: Artworks, History and Lunch
In-depth guides to what you will see at the Borghese Gallery and the story behind it: Bernini's Apollo and Daphne, David and Rape of Proserpina, Canova's Pauline Bonaparte, Titian's Sacred and Profane Love, the ancient sculptures Napoleon took to the Louvre, Cardinal Scipione Borghese who built the collection, and where to have lunch around your two-hour slot.
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Apollo and Daphne by Bernini: The Myth and the Sculpture
Bernini's Apollo and Daphne (1622-25): the Ovid myth, how the marble shows a nymph turning into a laurel, details to look for and where it stands in Room 3.
Bernini's David: The Sculpture, the Face and Where It Is
Bernini's David (1623-24): the moment he chose, how it differs from Michelangelo's David, the self-portrait story, its size and where it stands in Room 2.
Lunch near the Borghese Gallery: Café, Park and Nearby Streets
Where to eat near the Borghese Gallery: the museum café you can use without a ticket, cafés in Villa Borghese park, and Via Veneto and Piazza del Popolo.
Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix: Canova's Statue
Who Pauline Bonaparte was, why Canova carved Napoleon's sister as a half-nude Venus (1804-08), how the marble was finished and where it stands in Room 1.
Sacred and Profane Love: Titian's Painting at the Borghese
Titian's Sacred and Profane Love (c. 1514-16): the two women, what scholars think it means, the Rothschild offer, Room 20 and the autumn 2026 Titian exhibition.
Scipione Borghese: The Cardinal Behind the Borghese Gallery
Who Cardinal Scipione Borghese was, how Pope Paul V's nephew built the villa and collected Bernini and Caravaggio, and how it became a state museum in 1902.
The Borghese Gladiator and Vase: What Napoleon Took to Paris
Why the Borghese Gladiator and Borghese Vase are in the Louvre: the 1807 sale forced on Camillo Borghese by Napoleon, and what replaced them in Rome.
The Rape of Proserpina by Bernini at the Borghese Gallery
Bernini's Rape of Proserpina (1621-22): the myth of Pluto and Proserpina, the hand pressing into marble flesh, its journey back to the Borghese and Room 4.