Exchange between Borghese Gallery and Galleries of Ancient Art: 50 works on display at Palazzo Barberini

An important exchange between the Galleria Borg hese and the National Galleries of Ancient Art is being staged in Rome . In fact, from March 29 to June 30, 2024, the National Galleries of Ancient Art and the Galleria Borghese will join forces in an unprecedented collaboration to allow the public to continue to enjoy the rich heritage preserved on the second floor of the Galleria Borghese, even during the renovation and conservation project of the Gallery made possible thanks to PNRR funds.

As a result of this exchange, fifty works will be transferred to theSouth Wing of the main floor of Palazzo Barberini. This initiative represents an opportunity to bring into dialogue two collections that share a fascinating history, linked to two crucial figures in seventeenth-century Roman political and cultural life: Maffeo Barberini and Scipione Borghese. This encounter between the two collections not only offers a glimpse into the historical and cultural history of the period, but also represents an interesting geographical coincidence, as both galleries are located in the heart of Rome. Masterpieces such as Titian’sAmor Sacro and Amor Profano, Antonello da Messina’s Portrait of a Man, Raphael’s Lady with a Unicorn, Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna and Child by Giovanni Bellini, Sandro Botticelli’s Madonna and Child, St. John and Angels, Peter Paul Rubens’ Susanna and the Old Men, and Paolo Veronese’s Preaching of the Baptist, to name a few, will thus continue to be accessible to the general public.

During PNRR’s work at the Borghese Gallery, in addition to the restoration of the facades, the wall hangings will be replaced and the fixtures will be modernized to improve energy efficiency. This intervention also aims to make culture more accessible, update storage facilities, and restore some major works. The project will be presented as a prologue to the exhibition to be held at Palazzo Barberini. At Palazzo Barberini, during the temporary dismantling of the South Wing rooms, a detailed photographic and preventive conservation campaign will be carried out on the works normally displayed in these spaces. This includes works from the seventeenth-century Neapolitan to the eighteenth-century collection, ranging from Mattia Preti to the painters of the Grand Tour.

Throughout the exhibition period, there are concessions on tickets. The reduced ticket price for the Borghese Gallery will be €11, excluding any compulsory reservation fees, gratuities and reductions provided by law. Those who purchase this ticket will have the opportunity to visit the National Galleries of Ancient Art at a very subsidized cost of 5 euros, allowing them to enjoy all the magnificent heritage and ongoing initiatives.

“An event of the highest institutional value testifying to the proximity, not only geographical but also professional, that binds the two museums,” said Thomas Clement Salomon, director of the National Galleries of Ancient Art. “In the furrow traced by Scipione Borghese and Maffeo Barberini, who would have rejoiced at this initiative today, we hope that the public will be able to admire Borghese masterpieces at Palazzo Barberini and celebrate this exhibition that will be difficult to repeat in the coming decades.”

“In the course of important interventions of the PNRR that will change the appearance of the Pinacoteca on the second floor of the palace,” says Francesca Cappelletti, Director of the Borghese Gallery., “the Borghese Gallery, with an exceptional effort of all its staff, will never close and during the works will remain visitable. The exhibition at Palazzo Barberini will make it possible to make the Gallery’s heritage always visible and to establish relationships and resonances with another exceptional Baroque collection and another great museum institution.”

Exchange between Borghese Gallery and Galleries of Ancient Art: 50 works on display at Palazzo Barberini

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