Paolina Borghese Bonaparte

Flaminio, Parioli, Villa Borghese

Paolina Borghese Bonaparte


This is one of the most famous works in art history: Napoleone Bonaparte’s sister is painted as the embodiment of Venus winning the competition among goddesses settled by Paris’ judgment with the presentation of the apple that the woman is actually holding in her left hand. The woman was Camillo Borghese’s wife and as such she was the “lady of the house" of the building in which the statue is kept.