Marvel at Caravaggio’s, Bernini’s and Raphael’s works at Rome’s Galleria Borghese.
When in Rome you should definitely visit the Borghese Gallery, with its impressive collection of art, defined as “the most beautiful collection in the world“.
The museum, housed in Villa Borghese, is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 7pm. Booking is mandatory.
Built in 1613 by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the Borghese Gallery houses the private collection of the Cardinal, who had a marvellous collection of precious works of art, both ancient and modern. The Cardinal’s private collection was created starting in 1607, who initiated a systematic acquisition of artworks, making it one of the largest ones at the time.
The first collection was made up of paintings by Caravaggio, Raphael and Titian while the collection of ancient sculptures, another fundamental element capable of giving an aura of ideal universality to the artistic collections, had been constantly enriched. Inside the gallery, you will find a substantial part of the Borghese collection of paintings, sculptures and antiquities.
Galleria Borghese Highlights
Scipione Borghese was an early patron of Bernini and an avid collector of works by Caravaggio. He was particularly interested in antique sculptures, but was also driven enough to patronise modern artists and was commissioned work by Caravaggio, Bernini, Domenichino and Rubens.
Walking inside the Borghese Gallery is a unique once-in-a-lifetime journey into the world of some of the most universal artists of all time, including Bernini’s most famous masterpieces:
- Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius
- Rape of Proserpina
- David
- Apollo and Daphne
- Truth revealed by Time
- Self portrait as Young Man
- Self portrait at a Mature Age
- Bust of Cardinale Scipione Borghese
As you move from one section to the other, marvel at Bernini’s details. A particular artwork to set your eyes on is Ratto di Proserpina, where the hands of the God touching Proserpina’s skin actually seem as if they are sinking into her flesh.
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The Borghese Gallery also hosts Rome’s largest collection of Caravaggio works, including David with the Head of Goliath, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne (Madonna dei Palafrenieri), Saint Jerome and the Boy with basket of fruit.
Apart from being exceptional for its splendid collection (including masterpieces by Antonio Canova, Titian, Brueghel, Raphael and many others), the Galleria Borghese is perfect in the coherence of its decorative ensemble that implies antique marbles, inlays, mosaics, stuccoes and inserts.
The Borghese Gallery regularly hosts temporary exhibitions that dialogue with its permanent collection, often pairing old masters with contemporary art. Among the most talked-about in recent years were Damien Hirst’s Archaeology Now in 2021, which placed more than 80 of the British artist’s works among the ancient sculptures, and Guido Reni a Roma. Danza e paesaggio, which followed that winter and explored the birth of landscape painting in the early 17th century. Check our guide to the current exhibitions in Rome to see what’s on at the gallery during your visit.
Borghese Gallery tickets, hours and booking
The Borghese Gallery works differently from most Roman museums, and it catches many visitors out. Booking is mandatory for every ticket, including free ones, and entry runs in timed two-hour slots capped at 180 people. There is no walk-up ticket in practice: slots regularly sell out weeks, sometimes months, ahead, especially at weekends and during temporary exhibitions.
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 7pm, closed Mondays. Slots start on the hour from 9am to 5pm, with a final shorter slot at 5.45pm.
Tickets: €16 plus a compulsory €2 booking fee, so €18 in total. The late slot costs less. Under 18s enter free but still pay the €2 booking fee.
Free entry: the first Sunday of the month is free, but booking is still required and those tickets are released only ten days in advance and sell out immediately.
Good to know: large bags and backpacks are not allowed, only small bags up to 21 by 15 cm, and a cloakroom is available at the entrance. A limited number of last-minute tickets is sold at the box office about 30 minutes after each slot begins, but they are never guaranteed.
How to get there: Piazzale Scipione Borghese 5, inside Villa Borghese. Metro line A to Barberini or Spagna, then a walk through the park, or bus to Pinciana/Museo Borghese.
Borghese Gallery: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Booking is mandatory for all tickets, including free ones, and slots often sell out weeks ahead. There is no reliable way to visit without booking.
A full ticket costs €16 plus a compulsory €2 booking fee, so €18 in total. Under 18s enter free but still pay the booking fee.
Visits run in timed slots of two hours. The final slot of the day is shorter, at around an hour and a quarter.
Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 7pm, closed Mondays, with the last entry slot at 5.45pm.
Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne and Rape of Proserpina, Rome’s largest collection of Caravaggio paintings, and Canova’s Paolina Borghese as Venus Victrix.
Yes. It holds what has been called the most beautiful private collection in the world, in a villa inside Villa Borghese park, and the two-hour cap means it never feels crowded.
The first Sunday of the month is free, but booking is compulsory, the €2 fee still applies and tickets are released only ten days before.
Address:
Piazzale Scipione Borghese, 5
(Villa Borghese)
Opening times:
Tue-Sun, 9am-7 pm (last entrance 5.45pm)
Reservation required
