Prince Paolo Borghese lost the family fortune in the Rome building crash, and the state bought the Borghese collection for 3.6 million lire

Paolo Borghese was born in Rome on 13 September 1844. He headed a family whose art collection, begun by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the 17th century, was held under a fideicommissum that barred its sale. After Rome became the capital of Italy, Paolo was one of the main figures in the building boom, which peaked from 1881 to 1887. A crash followed that hit the construction companies and the banks that financed them. It was a serious blow to his fortune and his family's. In 1891 the library was dispersed, the manuscripts and archive went to the Vatican Library, and the ancestral Palazzo Borghese was sold. The paintings were moved from the palace to the villa that year. The palace furnishings were auctioned in 1892^†. The state negotiated for almost ten years. Between 1901 and 1902 it bought the picture gallery and statue collection, and in 1903 it handed the park to the city of Rome to be open to the public. Italian Wikipedia gives the price for villa, park and art as 3.6 million lire. Paolo retired to Venice after meeting his obligations and died there on 18 November 1920. In 2026 the Galleria Borghese is a state museum with special autonomy since 2014. The head of the family is Prince Scipione Borghese, born in 1970. The Spanish embassy to Italy occupies Palazzo Borghese^†.