The Hall and arcade wpe33.jpg (824 byte)

In the time of Cardinal Scipione, Villa Borghese’s large entrance-hall was furnished with paintings, including Caravaggio’s The Palafreniers’ Madonna, now exhibited in Room no.8. At the end of the I 3th century, prince Marcantonio Borghese changed the style to suit the Neoclassical fashion of the time. In 1775 he also commissioned the painter Mariano Rossi to paint the large fresco on the vault in celebration of the birth of his eldest son. The fresco represents Furio Camillo’s victory over the Gallics.

 

The mosaics on the floor come from a Roman villa located on the Casilina Way, while the two huge statues on either side of the hall represent Bacchus and a fighting Satyr which was restored by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and probably inspired the statue of David, in Room no. 2. The beauty of the villa’s facade was rediscovered after its latest restoration. In Scipione’s time the facade was decorated with 144 busts and 70 relieves. The arcade has several Roman findings, including the three parts of the ornament (the Sarcophagus with fighting scenes, a bust of Narclssus,a Greek Scuipture), which represent Emperor Traianus’ victory over the Dacis, in 106 a.d.