Borghese Gallery

(Sami here) After our morning outing we returned to the hotel to rest a bit before heading to the Borghese Gallery, just north of our hotel. To control the flow of tourists, tickets are issued for two-hour time periods. We had purchased ours on-line in Portland for a guided tour. As would be true of every tour we did on the trip, there was never enough time to see things at our own pace and fully take in all of the information given. Because of this, I have enjoyed viewing my photos and thinking later about what I saw.

The walk to the gallery through the park that surrounds it, was lovely. We learned that the trees are kept trimmed by the city to look this way, with limbs perched at the top of tall, thin trunks.

The gallery and surrounding park were designed and built in the early sixteenth century.

The villa and garden was the project of Cardinal Scipione Borghese. When he became a Cardinal, he had no ecclesiastical experience. He got his appointment from the Pope because he was his favorite nephew. Borghese then acquired, using the church's purse and brute force, a huge collection of Roman, Renaissance and Baroque art.

When you enter the gallery your eyes immediately go up to the high ceiling, to the frescoes. Although painted onto a flat surface they look 3-dimentional.

 
The young sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was a favorite of Borghese. A number of his remarkable works are featured. It is hard to understand how soft flesh and emotion can be rendered so completely from marble.

Here, Pluto, the god of Hades, has kidnapped Proserpina and is taking her down to his underground lair. Note the three headed dog that stands guard at the gates of Hell. Titled The Rape of Proserpina.

 

In the statue David, our hero is just ready to fling the stone at Goliath. Bernini made these two pieces in his mid-twenties.

When we got out of the gallery, it was dark. On our walk back to the hotel I snapped this photo of a scooter rider whizzing past part of Rome's ancient wall. One of my favorite photos.