The Nicola Del Roscio Foundation was established in September 2019 by Nicola Del Roscio, president of the foundation of the same name and the Cy Twombly Foundation, New York.
A cultural space in the heart of Rome, between the Spanish Steps and Via del Tritone, open to the city and addressing the global art scene in the sign of research and support for the arts of our time. The Nicola Del Roscio Foundation is located on Via Francesco Crispi, in a building dating back to the 1920s, which in the 1960s was home to the famous Florida Theater, whose image still remains in the memory of many Romans and is preserved imprinted among the frames of the film Ladri di bicilette (Bicycle Thieves) (1948) by Vittorio De Sica.
The Nicola Del Roscio Foundation promotes an exhibition program capable of narrating contemporary creativity, embracing visual arts, music, cinema and naturalistic disciplines in the name of research and support for the arts of our time.
The program includes the production of exhibitions by artists of international relevance, along with a calendar of in-depth events and literary, musical and film proposals. Among the main projects: Geta Brătescu, Adrian Ghenie, Ciprian Mureşan, Şerban Savu (2019), Piero Golia (2020), Claire Fontaine, Marinella Senatore, Pasquarosa (2021), Nico Vascellari 01 (2021), Tacita Dean. Sigh, Sigh, Sigh (2022), Un/Veiled: Cy Twombly, Music, Inspirations (2022), Paul Thek. Italian Hours (2022), Ellsworth Kelly. Line, Form, Color (2023).
In addition, the Nicola Del Roscio Foundation, through the #ProjectRoom format, acts as an observatory on the contemporary production of young Italian and international artists. Artists are invited to intervene through experimental and research projects about the most pressing contemporary issues: Mateusz Choróbski (2019), Radu Oreian (2020), Silvia Giambrone. Certain Things (2022), Francesco Arena. Fulmina Governs Every Thing (2023).
Special attention is also paid to the themes of science, the environment and biodiversity, as is in the tradition of the Nicola Del Roscio Foundation, which for years has been involved in the management of the Monte Orlando Botanical Garden in Gaeta. The garden was established in 1985 thanks to Del Roscio's botanical and environmental passion on the abandoned land surrounding a medieval-era house between ancient Gaeta and the modern city. From the beginning, it was intended to accommodate experimental research for the acclimatization of palms, favored by the location of the site, which benefits from an exceptionally mild microclimate, protected from cold winter winds by the Aurunci Mountains that rise from the sea to 1533 meters.
Today the garden occupies about 2 hectares and is organized on 14 terraces sloping toward the Gulf of Gaeta; it houses specimens of palms in as many as 150 different species, obtained from seeds collected during business trips to subtropical places. Many of the species born here from seed are rare or endangered in their original sites. The garden has a very delicate balance because of the rarity of the species, their climatic requirements, the terraced soil, and the desire to choose methods totally consistent with respect for the natural environment. Only organic products are used for plant care. Water resources are another of the critical issues managed with extreme care: rainwater is stored in cisterns, to be used later in times of drought. A few beehives help preserve the balance of the flora, and in the past decade many birds and other animals have chosen the garden as their habitat.
