Galleria Borghese & Caravaggio in S.ta Maria in Popolo, private Tour durch das barocke Rom

My husband and I were in Rome about 8 years ago and got a private guide to explore the Borghese Gallery. It was a great decision. We had really meaningful tour and fell in love with the Bernini sculpture at the gallery. We had the opportunity to return to Rome again and the first item on our list was signing up for a private guide to take us back thru the Borghese Gallery. Again, it was a great decision. Luca Farris, an art historian, met us in front of the museum. He arrived early as did we so we started our tour upon arrival. He was incredibly knowledgeable, spoke excellent English and loved Bernini as much as we did. After the visiting the gallery, the 3 of us strolled through the park to the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo to look at the interior of the chuch which housed some Caravaggio paintings. After we explored the chuch, Luca pointed out a good cafe near the Via Corso where we could sit and people watch. It was a great tour; we would highly recommend this experience.

A l’entrée du parc, se dresse la majestueuse Villa Borghèse. On doit absolument réserver par internet pour visiter le musée, l’entrée de faisant au sous-sol. L’audioguide est très bien fait, et indispensable pour comprendre certains tableaux et les sculptures. Au deuxième étage de trouvent les tableaux des grands Maîtres de la Renaissance, tels que Raphaël, Caravage, Le Titien. Les salles de la Villa Borghèse dont des merveilles architecturales et artistiques, avec des peintures murales et des plafonds dans lesquels sont inclus des tableaux. Au premier étage, on peut admirer les statues du Bernin et de Canova. L’audioguide nous apprend la signification des œuvres. La première représente Proserpine, fille de Cérès, déesse de l’agriculture, enlevée par Pluton, dieu des ténèbres, gardées par Cerbère, le chien à trois têtes. Puis David, représenté en mouvement de lancer de pierre avec sa fronde contre Goliath. Puis Enea, fils de Priam de Troyes, fuyant les Grecs, portant son père Anchise sur l’épaule gauche, suivi de son fils, mais n’ayant pû sauver sa femme. Enea sera l’ancêtre de Romus et Romulus qui fondèrent Rome. Puis Le Bernin a sculpté Apollon attrapant la nymphe Daphné fille du dieu fleuve Pénée. Celle-ci en appela à son père qui l’a métamorphose en Laurier pour échapper à Apollon. La sculpture de Canova représente Pauline Borghèse Bonaparte en Venus, étendue sur un sofa, tenant une pomme dans sa main gauche ( c’est la pomme d’or revenant à la plus belle déesse). On peut admirer le drapé des tissus, le travail du marbre de cette époque n’a jamais été égalé depuis. C’est ma deuxième visite en 10 ans, et mon émerveillement s’est renouvelé, intact.

Our guide Laura (Carbonara) was an absolutely wonderful guide and for us worth the cost. She has worked at the Borghese Villa and is very familiar with the process and staff as well as all the artwork. She studied art history and was able to help us understand not only the history of the pieces but the history of the Borghese family and their place in Italian history. She spoke fluent English and quickly picked up on what our individual interests were which helped us focus within our limited time. (The 2-hour window in the Borghese is absolute - they clear the museum when your time slot ends). We had a small-mix up about the inclusion of Santa Maria De Poppolo in our tour and Laura went over the top to get that straightened out. My only suggestion would be that it would be better to have guests meet the guide at 8:45. We met Laura at 9:00 and people had already been going in to check bags before that. Felt like we missed a few opening minutes of our allotted time. (One general comment - since the Borghese limits each time slot to 360 people and crowds are manageable, if you are not truly interested in sculpture/art/Italian history you might not need to splurge on a private tour here.) Thank you for your service, it was just what we needed.