The Borghese Gallery in Rome has proposed building an adjacent facility to expand its exhibition space and increase visitor capacity beyond the current limit of 360 people per two-hour slot. The museum, which welcomed over 630,000 visitors in 2025, argues the expansion is needed to display works long held in storage. A press conference is scheduled for May 19 to provide further details.
Italian heritage groups and art historians, including Tomaso Montanari, have strongly criticized the plan, arguing it prioritizes commercial interests over the historic and aesthetic integrity of the 17th-century villa and its English landscape garden. The Rome City Council has approved an initial feasibility study but insists no final decision has been made, while the museum describes the process as purely administrative.