Rome's Villa Borghese Museum hopes to raise funds to purchase a bust of Pope Urban VIII by Gian Lorenzo Bernini to add to its collection. The Pope, a member of the powerful Barberini family, was one of Bernini's patrons The bronze bust, executed in 1658, belongs at present to Barberini family descendants and is valued at 8 million euros. The Villa Borghese Museum has one of the biggest collections of Bernini sculptures, including celebrated pieces like The Rape of Prosperpina, Apollo and Daphne, the David and the two marble portraits of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the eminent 17th century art collector and patron of the arts. A fund has been set up, along the lines of Crowd Funding, used with success by the Louvre and the National Gallery of London, among others, to which members of the public can contribute to raise money for the purchase.
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