Boschi Di Stefano House Museum
The Boschi Di Stefano House Museum in Milan preserves the apartment of collector Antonio Boschi and his wife Marieda Di Stefano as it was during their lifetimes, housing one of the most important private collections of twentieth-century Italian art assembled in the country. Around 300 works by the leading figures of Italian modernism — from Boccioni and De Chirico to Fontana and Morandi — are displayed in the original domestic rooms of a 1931 rationalist apartment building designed by Piero Portaluppi.
At a glance
- Type
- House museum (donated to the City of Milan, managed by the Museo del Novecento)
- Period
- Building: 1931 (rationalist); collection: Italian art 1910s–1970s
- Style
- Italian Rationalist architecture; interiors with Liberty and Art Déco touches designed by Portaluppi
- Location
- Via Giorgio Jan 15, 20129 Milan, Lombardy, Italy
- Coordinates
- 45.4788° N, 9.2115° E
Overview
The Boschi Di Stefano collection is regarded as one of the finest privately assembled surveys of Italian art from the first seven decades of the twentieth century. When the couple donated the apartment to the City of Milan in 1974, they stipulated that it should remain accessible to the public in its original arrangement, making it a rare surviving example of a twentieth-century Milanese collector’s interior. The Virtual Tour 360° now extends access to visitors unable to visit in person, presenting all rooms in full immersive detail.
History
Antonio Boschi was an industrial engineer who began collecting Italian art in the early 1920s, acquiring works directly from artists including Marino Marini, Fausto Melotti and Lucio Fontana. His wife Marieda Di Stefano was herself a painter and a key figure in the Milanese cultural milieu of the mid-century. Piero Portaluppi, the architect who designed the building in 1931, also fitted out the apartment’s interiors. The collection grew to around 2,000 works across all media; roughly 300 are displayed on the walls of the apartment in the dense hang typical of the period.
What you see
Visitors walk through the original rooms — entrance hall, living rooms, bedrooms, dining room — with paintings hung floor-to-ceiling in the Italian manner. Key works include canvases by Umberto Boccioni, Giorgio de Chirico, Carlo Carrà, Filippo de Pisis, Giorgio Morandi and Lucio Fontana, as well as sculpture by Arturo Martini and Marino Marini. The 1930s furniture, lighting fixtures and decorative objects remain in place, giving the visit the quality of entering a time capsule of Milanese intellectual life.
Cultural significance
The house museum stands as a living document of how Italy’s most engaged collectors lived alongside and supported the avant-garde movements of Futurism, Metaphysical painting and post-war Spazialismo. It is considered one of the finest intact collector’s interiors in Europe and is closely integrated into the Museo del Novecento’s programme of events and research activities.
Practical information
- Address
- Via Giorgio Jan 15, 20129 Milan, Lombardy, Italy
- Hours
- Check the Museo del Novecento website for current opening days and times; visits are typically guided and by appointment
- Admission
- Check official website; admission is often free of charge
- Virtual tour
- A 360° virtual tour is available online — search “Casa Boschi Di Stefano virtual tour” for the current link
Getting there
The apartment is located in the Buenos Aires / Porta Venezia neighbourhood of Milan. The nearest metro station is Porta Venezia (MM1 red line), approximately 10 minutes on foot. Tram lines 9 and 23 also serve the area. From Milan Centrale railway station, the journey takes around 15 minutes by metro or tram.