Villa Borghese - palace of the arts

When he built Villa Borghese on the northern outskirts of Rome, Cardinal Scipione Borghese's collecting passion was accounted for. His uncle, Camillo Borghese, had been elected Pope Paul V in May 1605, so the family was already assured its place in history. But the Cardinal wanted more than a sumptuous private residence and diplomatic seat.

The Borgheses were not the first family to build luxury villas. The U shaped plan had two projecting side wings, a central portico surmounted by a terrace and a facade decorated with antique sculptures in the Mannerist style. Lying between the two towers was an open loggia with a fresco by Lanfranco, looking out onto a garden.

Decorated room, with sculptures, furniture and ceiling murals

By 1614 the villa was up and running, and his 200 sculptures, his tapestries and furniture could be moved ino the villa. The paintings came marginally later. The walls were covered with multi-coloured Roman marbles and the floors were set with polychromed marble inlays; no space was left undecorated in the entire villa. The tables were polished wood, set with polychromed marble inlays, fine cabinet work and mirrors.

That should have been enough! Yet stunning paintings by Caravaggio, Domenichino, Dosso Dossi, Raphael, Titian and Reni had to find space on top of the decorated walls. Sculptures had to find space in each room, also jostling for the visitor's attention in a sea of cultural objects and visual stimulation. Later on, Berninis and Rubens were added to the collection.

If the rooms were over-decorated, the huge gardens were perfect. The park was originally divided into three areas enclosed by walls, but these were later knocked down and the open spaces were crossed back and forward by paths. Trees everywhere and well placed sculptural pieces made the gardens a place of green retreat in a very busy, noisy city. And the Pincian Hill of ancient Rome, in the south part of the park, offers a very special view over Rome.

Front entrance

Life does not stand still, of course. There was radical restructuring of the entire villa ordered by Marcantonio IV Borghese in the 1770-1800 era, on the interiors and to the gardens. But worse was to come when Camillo Borghese, husband of Pauline Bonaparte, sold many of the collectibles to Napoleon for 13 million francs. These pieces are now in the Louvre, readily identified as the Borghese Collection. The Romans acted quickly and forbad the dispersal of Listed Cultural Items, but it was too late for the Borgheses. In any case, the villa, gardens and collections were bought by the Italian state in 1902.

Part of the English gardens