Galleria Borghese aka: Palazzo Borghese

Remember when you buy your ticket that you only get two hours to tour the museum before they rather unceremoniously clear you out and let the next crowd in. It can be a frustrating experience, especially in the first small rooms with everybody crammed in together, following the path indicated on the map you’re given when you enter. The trick is to do the exact opposite. When everybody else is milling around the Roman floor in the first room, make a beeline for the stairs in the back right-hand corner of the building. (The rooms on the ground floor are arranged in a circle so you can go left or right and you’ll find the stairs.) As you’re moving swiftly toward the staircase, you’ll catch glimpses of some stunning works, but you’ll have time for them later. Once you’re upstairs, you’ll have the galleries entirely to yourself and you can enjoy each picture without having to fend off other visitors. When people start to come upstairs, head back down. As if by magic, the first rooms are now empty. I always save extra time for Bernini’s Daphne and Apollo. It is a magical statue, full of light and movement. The stone is so finely chiseled that you can practically see through the cloth and the leaves. They say that if you were to tap a spoon on the foot of the statue, the leaves at the end of Daphne’s fingers would ring like crystal. Understandably, they don’t demonstrate this, but they look so delicate that you can easily believe it’s true.

Great museum for sketching!

Absolutely my favorite museum in Rome. It has a smaller collection than the Vatican Museums, so it is much more managable. Still, the collection is one of the best in the world, having masterpieces by Bernini, Caravaggio, and others. Just remember to get reservations a few days before you plan to go!

The best sculpture here is the “Daphne and Apollo” by Bernini. Apollo seizes Daphne just as she turns into a laurel tree. Her hands/branches are amazing – you can actually see through the marble. Definitely worth visiting, but you do need to make advance reservations.

this is where i saw in the flesh so to speak – the rape of persephone by Bernini. how one man can make cold marble seem like flesh astounds me.