Travels in Italy--The Galleria Borghese in Rome

While in Rome, we visited a painting and sculpture museum, the Galleria Borghese. 

The museum is housed in the Villa Borghese Pinciana, which sits in a very large public park near the center of Rome, the Giardino Borghese.  The Villa Borghese Piciana, completed in 1633, is the former "party villa" of a wealthy Roman family, the Borghese.  The villa and park are located outside Rome's walls, away from the noise and grime of Rome, as it was during the Renaissance and still is today.

The Villa Borghese Pinciana

One of the "secret gardens" of the Villa Borghese.  The gardens were secret in the 17th century because they were surrounded by high walls and entrance was restricted to special guests. 

Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633) was a patron of the best Italian artists in his generation, including sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini and painter Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio.  His collection became the core of the Galleria Borghese.

Above is a close up photo Apollo's leg.  We marveled at how the leg floated in space.

(Susan thinks the subject looks a bit like the actor Christopher Walken.)

The museum building itself is an artistic masterpiece, with ornately decorated walls and ceilings.

In the museum, we discovered a painting of the biblical Susan, or Susanna.

Susanna and the Elders. In the book of Daniel, two elders accost Susan who rejects them.  They falsely Susan who then faces the executioner.  Daniel intercedes and proves the elders are lying.  They are put to death. 

The moral of the story?  Don't mess with Susan..

The Galleria Borghese is a wonderful museum worth seeing while in Rome.