The Borghese Gallery [antikvár]

This booic, iiuljlisliecl by the Touring Clui) haliano with the col-lal)()iation of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Artistici e Storici, lionie, and (lie sponsorship of Crédito Italiano, may be regarded as both a specialised guide and a museum catalogue. It has tlie wealth of information and the descriptive capacity of a guide that aims to conduc^t the reader through the gallery, room by room, giving an account of the vast range of historico-cultural situations in which the gallery's numerous masterpieces were created. However, the methodical anti precise way it provides details about the works, with an illustration accompanying each entry, is typical of a catalogue. Famed throughout the world, the Borghese Gallery is one of Rome's — and Italy's — most outstanding museums. Its foundation, with the con-stmction of the noi)le and functional building that still houses it and the creation of the splendid park surrounding the villa, attracted a great deal of attention and conl'ened further prestige on the Borghese, a family from Siena that already had a solid position in the milieu of the Roman aristocracy of the 16th century. The gallery bestowed authority on the Borghese — which they continued to have subsequently — in the field of culture and art. The works thanks to which the gallery has been described as "the queen of the world's private collections" are indeed masterpieces of great beauty: thus the visitor may admire the vast collec:tion ranging from classical antiquity to Antonio Canova, with enthralling pauses before the works of Giovanni Bellini, Antonello da Messina, Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, Raphael, Lorenzo Lotto, Andrea del Sarto, Titian, Correggio, Paolo Veionese, Caravaggio, Rubens, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and other equally important artists. None of the great periods of art histoiy are lacking in this immensely valuable assortment of works, which are, moreover, further enhanced by the refined taste of the displays. The reopening of tiie galleiy to the public, in 1997, besides being a memorable event, helped to awaken interest in the over three and a half centuries of its glorious histoiy, which was not always benign, as the chronicles remind us. The informative essays in the first part of the guide provide a detailed account of this rich legacy. The series of museum guides, which began with the Brera Galleiy in 1998, now boasts another title which is equally prestigious and confirms the commitment of the Touring Club haliano to providing a deeper insight into the beauty of Italy's heritage of art and culture. Roberto Ruozi President of the Touring Club Italiano