Small Group Borghese Gallery Tour and Gardens

Enjoy some of Rome’s finest masterpieces away from the crowds and stress. Enjoy the Borghese Gallery and its Gardens during a relaxing and entertaining semi-private small group tour. With 12 people or less per group, your journey through one of the world’s finest art collections will be personal and slow-paced, always maintaining full interaction with your experienced tour guide. The Gallery limits access to only 260 visitors per session, therefore it is one of the most intimate art experiences Rome has to offer. The tour will start with an introduction to Rome’s most beautiful Villa and its gardens. Once inside the Gallery, your expert English-speaking tour guide will bring to life – with entertaining facts and stories – Caravaggio, Titian and Raphael’s paintings, Bernini’s masterpieces sculptures – such as: Apollo and Daphne, the Rape of Persephone and the David and many others which make the Borghese collection one of the most impressive art galleries in the world. Upon exiting the Gallery, the tour will continue with a peaceful stroll through a portion of Rome’s most beautiful public park. At the end of the tour our guide will be happy to point out how to reach a Taxi stand or the nearby Metro station. Scipione was a real connoisseur of art; he loved the “antique” (ancient Roman statues and mosaics), the “modern” (Renaissance paintings), as well as the “contemporary”, such as Bernini’s theatrical statues and Caravaggio’s dark and unconventional paintings. The cardinal’s strong desire to own the best works of art available on the market pushed him to adopt rather unorthodox methods of acquisition: for example, he sent his guards to Perugia to steal Raphael’s masterpiece the “Deposition of Christ”. And to get his hands on Domenichino’s beautiful “Hunt of Diana,” which had been commissioned by another cardinal, he went so far as to throw the artist in jail to convince him to hand over the precious canvas to the Borghese. Because the Borghese Gallery is immersed in the tranquillity and beauty of the surrounding gardens, it is truly a delight for the senses and one of the most rewarding sites that Rome has to offer.