Thursday, September 16, 2010

Villa Borghese, Rome

One morning during our stay in Rome last May after a rainy night, John and I walked up the steep Via di Porta Pinciana to the Villa Borghese through its park high above the city. The Villa was built as a pleasure palace by the avid art collector, Cardinal Scipione Borghese. He was an avid fan of the work of the young sculptor, Bernini.
The early Bernini works in the Borghese collection like The Rape of Prosperpine, Apollo and Daphne and David are considered amongst the artist's best pieces. Unfortunately we were not allowed to photograph inside the Villa so instead I documented the exterior sights like the parterre gardens behind the palace.
After visiting the art collection, we wandered through the park in the direction of the Piazza del Popolo. Here we pass the Baroque aviary in the Villa's private gardens.
John couldn't resist shooting the spectacular pines that tower above the paths.
Here I've tried to capture the peaceful, shady, gravel paths of the Pincio Gardens high above the piazza.
Soon we were catching views down on the Historic Centre of Rome before finally descending into the Piazza del Popolo. Suddenly we were back down in the noise and chaos of the streets of the ancient city after a delightful escape.

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