Borghese Gallery - Rome - TravBuddy

I agree with Eric's review, although I personally enjoy the Borghese more than the Vatican. While the Vatican Museum is enormous and a little overwhelming, the Borghese is the perfect size. You won't be secretly wishing you were somewhere else halfway through the gallery. And the quality of work is unbeatable. Bernini's sculptures are heartbreakingly beautiful, and the Caravaggio paintings are dark, lush, brooding masterpieces. Go to the Borghese, even if you don't go to any of the other numerous (and fabulous) museums Rome has to offer.

After the Vatican Museum, this is probably the best museum
in Rome, especially if you're a fan of Baroque art. In my opinion, the
sculptures here by Bernini are even more impressive than any by
Michelangelo. The works look so realistic that sometimes you forget you
are looking at marble and not flesh. Two of my favorite pieces are:

The Rape of Persephone
- Basically the myth goes that Persephone was out picking flowers when
the lord of the underworld, Hades, burst forth from the ground and
snatched her back into his lair to be his wife. The piece by Bernini is
a good example of why it is important to see a work of art within its
natural context. The sculpture is positioned such that Persephone is
reaching out into the distance. If you are standing in the Borghese
gallery you will notice that she is facing the garden in the central
courtyard of the gallery. Thus, the garden of the Borghese gallery
becomes the mythical garden from which she was snatched from, and the
sculpture's surroundings help to illustrate the story. Another thing to
note is the way the light falls upon the sculpture. All the light is
coming from the front (i.e the garden, daylight, the earthly world) and
she is being pulled by Hades back into the darkness.

Apollo and Daphne
- The myth behind this work is that Daphne, a nymph, is being chased by
the god Apollo who is smitten by her beauty. As swift Apollo closes in,
she calls out to her father, asking him to protect her by changing her
form. Then,

Scarcely had she spoken, when a stiffness seized all her limbs;
her bosom began to be enclosed in a tender bark; her hair became
leaves; her arms became branches; her feet stuck fast in the
ground, as roots; her face became a tree-top, retaining nothing
of its former self but its beauty. Apollo stood amazed. He
touched the stem, and felt the flesh tremble under the new bark.
He embraced the branches, and lavished kisses on the wood. The
branches shrank from his lips.

This
moment of transformation, from woman to laurel tree, is precisely the
moment that Bernini masterfully portrays. If you walk around the
sculpture counter-clockwise, you can see this transformation happen
before your very eyes. At first Daphne looks completely human, but as
you slowly walk around parts of her begin turning into a tree. By the
time you are on the other side of the sculpture, the transformation is
complete and she is a tree.

The detail of the work is also
amazing. The leaves are made of such thinly carved marble that you can
actually see the light go through them. If you're interested in hearing
more about the work send me a message. I could go on but I don't want
to bore everyone :) Better yet, just go see it!