When I was younger, I wasn't a big fan of art galleries. My attitude has generally changed toward that of looking forward to visiting the great art museums of the great cities of Europe. Although, even now, I still can fall into an art coma after spending too much time in crowded galleries.
(Editor: I hope you still do despise modern art. Writer: Oh, don't worry, for the most part I do. Every one in one thousand pieces I see one that's not absolute garbage. But, I do give those artists who create the garbage modern art credit for fooling enough pretentious souls into buying it.)
Side note: In 2001, when we went to Spain for the first time (as a family with kids age 3, 6, and 8), Carol dragged us into the Prado, the famed art museum in Madrid. At some point (relatively early in the visit), I started whining that I was tired of seeing "Fat dead Spanish princes and their fat dead horses." (I wasn't wrong -- that's like half the museum). Carol made me take the kids out to El Retiro Park where we had ice cream and she got to spend another hour in the museum. The girls and I won that time!
Anyhow, since my two previous trips to Rome did not include a visit to the Galleria Borghese, it was definitely a must go to this time. Except I forgot to buy tickets well in advance. Maria bailed me out by checking in with me, and she followed through and bought tickets.
The Borghese family was a family of popes and cardinals. The artwork includes a lot of secular and sensual/erotic themes. But the family believed that all forms of human expression glorified God.
The villa was built just outside the city in the late 1500s/early 1600s to show off Cardinal Scipione Borghese's collection of art and sculptures to VIPs while wining and dining them. He collected ancient works and hired top artists of this day.
Although a cardinal, Scipione Borghese was not religious. Nepotism worked wonders for the Borghese family.
The Borghese Gallery is not at all overwhelming. In fact, it's one of the few art galleries to leave me wanting more. To me, the sculptures (especially Bernini's works) take the main stage, although the number of Caravaggio paintings is staggering.
After we were done, we Uber'd back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. At our friend Joe Eule's suggestion, we ate a Restaurante Vladimoro, which is the only dinner we ate that was not at a restaurant within walking distance. Kate and Ashley joined us at dinner after they covered a lot of ground in Rome. Julia ended up leaving dinner and taking an Uber back as she suddenly felt sick. (She felt sick before eating a bite, so it wasn't the food!). Those of us who remained enjoy the dinner.
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