Horti Borghesiani
The exhibition features ancient sculptures from the Villa Borghese Collection, prior to the setting up of the Villa Borghese Museum in the Casina delle Rose.
This small exhibition shows some of the sculptures from Villa Borghese, most of which were originally owned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the remainder being the result of subsequent purchases which themselves help tell the complex story of the Villa and its patrons.
The exhibition, then, is a preview of the planned new Villa Borghese Museum, which will house all the sculptures that today are in store, alongside a nucleus of paintings, prints and documents which will enable us to retrace the history of the Villa.
Villa Borghese was commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V, and was built in the first decades of the 17th century.
The complex is embellished with gardens, fountains, decorative architectural features and different types of buildings. It was not intended to be a main residence but as an exhibition centre for all the works of art that the Cardinal had collected.
The most important works were housed in the Casino Nobile, now the Borghese Museum and Gallery.
