Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Aurelio De Felice

The Aurelio De Felice Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Terni brings together works from the city’s municipal picture gallery and the sculptor’s 1986 donation. Its collections range from medieval Umbrian painting to modern prints and contemporary art.

Why it matters

The museum was shaped by the gift of Aurelio De Felice, who donated his own work and collection to the city in 1986. Its merger with Terni’s historic municipal picture gallery, formerly housed in Palazzo Gazzoli, joins older regional painting with the modern and contemporary collections in a single institution.

What to notice

The older works include paintings by the Maestro della Dormitio Virginis, Benozzo Gozzoli and Piermatteo d’Amelia. The collection also includes around 250 prints by artists such as Chagall, Kandinsky, Miró, Braque, Léger and Picasso. Contemporary works include pieces by Giulio Turcato, Gino Severini and Agapito Miniucchi, alongside work by Aurelio De Felice and paintings by Orneore Metelli.

Context and history

De Felice was born at Torre Orsina in 1915 and studied in Terni and Rome, where he assisted sculptor Pericle Fazzini. In the early 1950s, he worked in Paris and co-founded the Scuola d’arte italiana with Gino Severini. He later founded Terni’s state art institute dedicated to Orneore Metelli and directed it until 1978. The 1986 donation of his work, Metelli paintings and other pieces established the core of the museum’s collection.