Small is beautiful.

Certainly it is, in the case of the Galleria Borghese. Located a little off-centre in Rome, it is housed in the casino or summerhouse of the Villa Borghese. The villa, built between 1613 and 1616, was the home of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the favorite nephew of Pope Paul V.

The cardinal was reportedly often unscrupulous in his dealings with artists, but it cannot be denied that he had impeccable taste and an unerring eye for merit. There are an incredible number of masterpieces packed into this comparatively small space – works of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Caravaggio, Domenichino, Guido Reni and Peter Paul Rubens number among the most spectacular.

Many valuable works of art were added to the collection in the 17th and 18th century, till it became so attractive that Napoleon transferred a great part of it to the Louvre in 1807. New material was added in the 19th century and in 1902, the Italian State acquired the entire property of the Borghese, including the art collection. The public is the richer since the gallery has been made accessible to it.

Climb the spiral staircase that leads to the display rooms, and spend a few moments at the first salon with Jupiter as he sits with his council of Gods in a breathtaking fresco by Giovanni Lanfranco. Next, study the evolution, as artist and man, of one of Rome’s favourite sons, Bernini, by looking at two self-portraits with a decade separating them. Also by Bernini are the whimsical The Goat Almathea, a representation of two infants playing with a woolly goat, which he did when he was barely 17 years old, two busts of Cardinal Borghese himself and an equestrian statue of Louis XIV.

Moses with the Ten Commandments by Reni, Guercino’s The Lavish Son and Alabani’s The Four Seasons are other famous works in this room.

Domenico Corvi restored the ceiling of the salon at the end of the 18th century, and decorated the walls with mythological frescoes.

The other rooms on the top floor of the museum are similarly packed with artistic gems. Take for instance the 16th century Last Supper by Jacopo Bassano, an unusual depiction of the Biblical scene, showing the apostles in a colourful, informal gathering.

Rubens' Deposition and Badalocchio's Entombment of Christ are embodiments of grief and the dignity of the emotion. In Reuben’s work, the grief-stricken figures are bathed in a glow that spills down from a tear in the inky blue clouds, a shade that finds an echo in the arms of the Christ.

Room Number 20 on this floor is dominated by Titian’s masterpiece, Sacred and Profane Love. The painting, done when the artist was just 25, is part of the lore of the Galleria Borghese. According to records, the Rothschilds offered to buy it at Itì. 4,000,000, a price that exceeded the then estimated value of the entire gallery and all the works in it. Fortunately, the deal did not go through and the painting continues to grace this little museum in Rome.

Across the landing, Room X is full of nudes – women, men and children. Perhaps the most famous is Correggio's Danäe, but Andrea Del Sarto’s representation of a chubby baby Jesus and young St. John is equally adorable, though in a different way. Correggio did Danäe for Federico Gonzagao II, who gifted it to Emperor Charles V. It found its way to the Galleria Borghese in 1827 after it was exhibited in some of the most important European courts.

In Room IX, stand awed by the poignant Deposition by Raphael, and wonder at Perugino's Madonna and Child, Fra Bartolomeo's Adoration, and Pinturicchio's Crucifixion. Raphael’s painting, originally exhibited in a church in Perugia, was reportedly stolen at the behest of Pope Paul V, who presented it to his nephew.

Room XII has two works by Sodoma, which are in complete contrast to each other. His somber Pietà shows a weary Christ, while the artist’s concept of baby Jesus in another painting is delightfully sweet.

The ground floor entrance hall of the Galleria Borghese is jam-packed with artifacts – ranging from classical statues of various sizes and in many materials, to columns, medallions and an equestrian statue by Peitro, Bernini’s father. Perhaps the most eye-catching of all is Rossi’s fresco of Jupiter and a host of minor Roman mythological figures, including Romulus, Remus and Sibyl.

Room I contains Antonio Canova's famous sculpture of a nude Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon’s sister, lounging on a marble and wood sofa, which once rotated.

Room II has Bernini's David. The historian Baldinucci, a contemporary of Bernini, has it that the artist carved the statue while Cardinal Maffeo Barberini (the future Pope Urbano VIII) held up a mirror. Bernini shows the boy David as a pagan hero, just about to launch a stone from his sling against Goliath, the Philistine. The story is taken up by a painting behind the statue, in which Battistello Caracciolo shows the victorious David holding up the severed head of Goliath.

Room III, which can well be named the chamber of metamorphosis, contains Dosso Dossi's paintings of Circe (or Melissa) changing humans into lemurs, and his Apollo, as well as Bernini's Apollo and Daphne. Bernini told the story in stages, and, to “read” it, one has to move around the statue from right to left – the sequence of events will unfold before the viewer’s eyes – behind the figure of Apollo, one sees the god leaning against a tree while Daphne is hidden from sight. The words engraved on the pedestal are by Maffeo Barberini, and translate as: “He who aims to follow the flying dreams of fun will find his hands full of bitter leaves and berries!"

In The Rape of Proserpina, Bernini experiments with new heights of realism. Pluto's hand presses into Prosperina’s thigh, making her soft flesh puff up between his fingers, a few tears stream down her face and her hand pulls back the skin around his eyes as she struggles to get away -- all in marble.

The Egyptian style Room VII has most things Egyptian. The vault has a Tommaso Conca painting entitled Cybele and the Nile (1780). The same artist is responsible for the decoration on the marble walls, telling the story of Antony and Cleopatra. A large portrait-statue of Isis stands ready to follow her bridegroom, Osiris, clad in a long black marble tunic.

One room is devoted to Caravaggio. This painter, who led a life of violence and adventure, did some marvelous work, much of which have found its way to the Galleria Borghese by fair means or foul. Statistics show that the Palafreniers’ Madonna was originally done for St Peter’s Church, but the authorities disliked it as it portrayed the Virgin as a common Roman woman. It was returned to Caravaggio, who sold it to Cardinal Borghese.

Fleeing Rome after committing a murder, Caravaggio lived a fugitive life and painted many dramatic pictures, including David with Goliath’s head, the latter believed to be a self-portrait. He was granted a Papal reprieve thanks to the intervention of Cardinal Scipione, who did the artist the favor in exchange for this painting and another of St John the Baptist. Unfortunately for Caravaggio, he never did return to Rome – he died on the way there.

The Galleria Borghese, for all its spectacular art content, has one missing master -- Michelangelo. Scipione Borghese had only a small crucifix made by the artist, and that, unfortunately, disappeared. However, the gallery does have a room dedicated to the “mannerists” or those who painted in the manner of Michelangelo. Pellegrino Tibaldi's Adoration of the Christ calls to mind the mind-blowing paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.

The Galleria Borhghese reopened in1997 after many years of renovation work. You can walk there from Via Veneto, along Via Pinciana, or take a bus.

It is important to reserve your ticket, and to remember that you can carry nothing inside the building. Buying a guidebook is highly recommended. A ticket will allow you just two hours with the masterpieces, and a fresh lot of visitors are let in once every two hours. No more than 360 visitors are allowed on the ground floor at any given time, and on the upper floor, the number is limited to 90.

It is open from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, Tuesday to Saturday, and from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on Sundays, except between October and April, when it is open from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm Tuesday to Sunday.

Call 06-8417645 for information or contact Select Italy (tel. 847/853-1661; www.selectitaly.com)