Join
our
tour
of
the
gallery
which
has
one
of
the
finest
art
collections
in
the
world.
Its
many
masterpieces
include
the
famous
statue
of
Pauline
Borghese
by
Canova,
Sacred
and
Profane
Love
and
Venus
Blindfolding
Cupid
by
Titian,
the
Deposition
by
Raphael,
several
superb
statues
by
Bernini,
six
of
Caravaggio’s
finest
paintings,
the
Hunt
of
Diana
by
Domenichino,
and
works
by
Perugino,
Pinturicchio,
Veronese
and
Rubens.
The
collection
was
begun
by
Cardinal
Scipione
Borghese
who,
at
the
start
of
the
seventeenth
c
entury,
commissioned
Flaminio
Ponzio
and
Jan
van
Santen
(Giovanni
Vasanzio)
to
design
and
build
the
Casino
Nobile
and
the
park
of
the
Villa
Borghese
to
hold
his
ancient
and
modern
art
collections.
Following
Scipione’s
death
in
1633,
the
collection
was
further
enriched
by
the
Borghese
family
but
then
suffered
a
huge
blow
when
Napoleon
removed
several
of
its
ancient
sculptures
and
sent
them
to
Paris
(now
in
the
Louvre).
The
Galleria,
which
was
acquired
by
the
Italian
State
in
1901,
was
opened
to
the
public
a
year
later.
