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Abstract: Previously unknown documents from the Vatican Secret Archive concerning the Borghese family are the basis for an analisys of the decorative apparatus of the main facade of the Casino Nobile in Villa Pinciana in the nineteenth century, after the 1807 sale of the archeological collection to the French had eliminated almost all of the antique artifacts, thus impoverishing the exterior decoration. The restoration of the façade's pediment, sober and austere in Canina’s interpretation, was in keeping with some of the architectural initatives of the time, or perhaps prompted by the prospect of selling the entire collection. The initiative can be seen in its various phases: Marcantonio V's initial project and how it was carried out by Paolo Borghese by re-collocating sculptures and antique sculptural reliefs found in the family's properties in order to recall the rhythm of the exuberant seventeenth century decorative apparatus.