GALLERIA BORGHESE, Bernini

The great protagonist of the ground floor rooms is Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the greatest sculptor and architect of Baroque Rome. He demonstrated his great sculptural skills when he was little more than a teenager: after having shown that he knew how to imitate ancient sculpture quite impressively, in addition to being quite good at painting, between 1621 and 1624 he made an ambitious cycle of sculptures for the demanding Prince Scipione Borghese, who was a passionate collector of Caravaggio. Sculpted for an audience of refined and demanding art connoisseurs, these four large marble groups were exceptionally successful and immediately emerged as an unsurpassed model of Baroque sculpture. Today you can admire them in the center of their respective halls, surrounded by statues and paintings from different ages.

Always remember to walk full-circle around each group and admire it from every angle.

The first work depicts a scene narrated in Virgil's Aeneid: Aeneas is fleeing Troy while carrying his father Anchises and being followed by his son Ascanius. The complicated group of figures was made by the young, talented artist in collaboration with his father Pietro Bernini; the other three works are instead only by Gian Lorenzo....