Masterpieces From the Galleria Borghese

After one year of renovations, Musée Jacquemart André is reopening its doors with a blockbuster exhibition of forty masterpieces from the Galleria Borghese in Rome. A highlight of the art season, running until January 5 and spotlighting cultural links between two countries, Italy and France. Here is everything you need to know about the exhibition of the season.

FROM ROME TO PARIS

Rarely, do the major collections travel worldwide. But this time all of the stars aligned: since Galleria Borghese is undergoing a campaign of renovation work this autumn - its masterpieces could exceptionally be lent to other museums. So it’s a unique chance to see chef d'œuvres from Raphael, Antonello de Messina, Parmigiano, Titan or Leonardo da Vinci all together in Paris.

Why Paris? And more particularly Musée Jacquemart André? In fact, the museum has a deep connection to Italian art. Its founders Édouard André and Nélie Jacquemart had a passion for Italian artists, travelled frequently to Rome, and compiled a rich collection of paintings, sculptures and furniture dating from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century. And it’s actually one of the leading institutions in France devoted to Italian art, which makes it the perfect place to show Roman art treasures.

WHAT’S ON VIEW?

Forty masterpieces from Galleria Borghese are presented in an innovative scenography with the biggest concentration of chef d’oeuvres in one square meter, according to curators Francesca Cappelletti and Pierre Curie. Therefore, some of them sit together in the same room for the first time. The collection’s history is evoked through Renaissance works that have been selected to reflect its richness and diversity. For example, there are sculptures by Bernini: the ones that could travel from Rome to Paris, but also other examples of the sculptors’ work that belong to Musée Jacquemart André. One of them actually used to be a part of the Borghese Collection, but left the collection at the end of the nineteenth century, and was later acquired by Madame André. There is also a rare “Self-Portrait at a Mature Age” by Bernini that shows that the sculptor was also a talented painter. Other highlights include Raphael’s “Lady with Unicorn”, Caravaggio’s “Boy with a Basket of Fruit”, Raphael’s “Fornarina”, Da Vinci’s “Leda”, Botticelli’s “Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Angels” and Titian's “Venus blindfolding Cupid”, which has rarely the rooms of Villa Borghese. A must-see.

Courtesy: MUSÉE JACQUEMART-ANDRÉ
Text: Lidia Ageeva