Museo e Galleria Borghese

Lonely Planet review

This 'queen of all private collections' was formed by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the most passionate and knowledgeable art collector of his day. The collection - including works by Caravaggio, Bernini, Botticelli and Raphael - and the mansion were acquired by the Italian state in 1902; a lengthy restoration took place in the 1990s.

The ground floor contains some important classical statuary and intricate Roman floor mosaics. But Bernini's spectacular carvings - flamboyant depictions of pagan myths - are the stars. His precocious talent is evident in works such as Pluto and Proserpine and Apollo and Daphne , depicting the moment at which the nymph is transformed into a laurel tree, her fingers becoming leaves, her toes turning into tree roots, while Apollo watches helplessly.

The Caravaggios include the wonderfully naturalistic Madonna dei Palafrenieri (Madonna with the Serpent), whose uninhibited realism led to its rejection by its ecclesiastical commissioners rejecting it.

The paintings on the first floor include masterworks by Bellini, Giorgione, Veronese, Botticelli, Guercino, Domenichino and Rubens, among others.