Carlo Bilotti Museum — Orangery
The Carlo Bilotti Museum is a contemporary art museum housed in the Orangery of the Villa Borghese in Rome, inaugurated in 2006 to display the collection donated by Italian-American cosmetics entrepreneur and art patron Carlo Bilotti. The museum is notable above all for eighteen works by Giorgio de Chirico — one of the most significant public holdings of the Metaphysical painting master in Italy — alongside portraits by Andy Warhol and Larry Rivers. Set within the historic landscape of the Villa Borghese gardens, the museum combines a refined neoclassical building with a collection that bridges Italian modernism and American Pop Art.
At a glance
- Type
- Municipal art museum (Musei in Comune, Roma Capitale)
- Period
- Orangery building: 18th–19th century; museum opened 2006
- Style
- Neoclassical orangery; contemporary museum fit-out
- Location
- Viale Fiorello La Guardia, Villa Borghese, Rome, Italy
- Coordinates
- 41.9134° N, 12.4833° E
Overview
The Carlo Bilotti Museum occupies the historic Orangery (Aranciera) within the Villa Borghese park, one of Rome’s principal public gardens. It belongs to the Musei in Comune network administered by Roma Capitale. The permanent collection of 23 works was donated by Carlo Bilotti, a Calabrian-born entrepreneur who built a career in the international fragrance industry and became a close friend and patron of several major 20th-century artists. The collection provides an intimate encounter with de Chirico’s late Metaphysical work, presented in a quiet garden setting far from the crowds of the city’s larger museums.
History
Carlo Bilotti (1934–2006) was born in Cosenza, Calabria, and rose to prominence in the United States through the Revlon fragrance company. His friendships with Giorgio de Chirico, Andy Warhol, and other artists led to the accumulation of a significant personal collection. In the early 2000s he negotiated the donation of 23 works to the City of Rome, stipulating their display in a dedicated museum space within the Villa Borghese. The Orangery — a 19th-century garden building — was restored and converted to house the collection, which opened to the public in 2006. Bilotti died shortly before the inauguration. The museum also holds a full-length portrait of Bilotti’s wife and daughter by Andy Warhol (1981).
What you see
The permanent collection of 23 works spans paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, with Giorgio de Chirico as the dominant presence: eighteen works ranging from Metaphysical interiors and mannequin figures to the mythological paintings of his later Neo-Baroque period. Andy Warhol’s portrait of Tina and Lisa Bilotti (1981) and works by Larry Rivers and Gino Severini complete the collection. The Orangery building itself — a light-filled neoclassical structure — provides an elegant, unhurried setting for viewing works of this scale and quality.
Cultural significance
The museum is one of Rome’s finest small-scale collections, offering an unusually coherent encounter with de Chirico’s work across several decades. Its position within the Villa Borghese makes it a natural complement to the more celebrated Galleria Borghese, allowing visitors to combine the Baroque masterworks of the villa with a 20th-century Italian modernism perspective.
Practical information
- Address
- Viale Fiorello La Guardia, 00197 Rome, Italy
- Access
- Free admission; check Roma Capitale website for opening days and hours
- Website
- museicomuneroma.it
Getting there
The museum is within the Villa Borghese park. The nearest Metro station is Flaminio (Line A), from which the park is a 15-minute walk through the Pincio gardens or via the tram connection. Bus lines 52, 53, 116, and 910 serve the Villa Borghese area. The park is also reachable on foot from Piazza del Popolo via the Pincio hill.