When in the early nineteenth century intellectuals from all over Europe, during the Grand Tour, began to explore the surroundings of Rome in search of picturesque views and new sources of inspiration, the village of Anticoli Corrado was one of the most interesting discoveries, especially for artists. In addition to the landscape and the characteristic architecture, the painters were fascinated by the inhabitants, both for the beauty and ease in posing, as well as for the proverbial hospitality. Thus it was that, especially from the end of the nineteenth century, an increasing number of artists stayed there, renting studios for shorter or longer periods in which to work away from the chaos of the city. The fame of Anticoli Corrado "town of artists" intrigued many artists of great stature, including, just to name a few, Arturo Martini, Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, who went there for the first time in 1925, before returning to the 1965. Between the 1920s and 1930s, the large group of artists residing in Anticoli Corrado felt they had to thank the village for the welcome they received by donating a work performed on site to the Municipality: thus the first nucleus of the Civico collection was born. Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, inaugurated in 1935 by Minister Giuseppe Bottai.