The Pilone Collection, donated to the MUSEC in 2007, is the result of a passionate and far-sighted collection made by journalist Rosanna Pilone (1931-2006) at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s.

Rosanna Pilone, Venetian, has always lived and worked in Milan. From a very young age, she developed an interest, soon turned into a passion, for China, its culture and theatre. Over time, she became a profound and esteemed connoisseur of the subject and translated several works by Confucius and Laozi for Rizzoli. She has also written and edited a series of important studies, among which we would like to mention the most recent, which can be consulted in the MUSEC library: Oltre la maschera: Storia di ragazzi d’opera cinese, International Cultural Exchange, Milan 1995; and Tradizione e realtà del teatro cinese: Dalle origini ai giorni nostri, International Cultural Exchange, Milan 1995. The Collection comprises 465 objects or groups of objects, whose summary inventory has been carefully checked, supplemented and commented by the MUSEC team. The works include painted masks and faces, headdresses, make-up accessories and costumes, fans, musical instruments and entire stage sets.

Over the years, the Collection has been the subject of scientific studies and of the catalogue Chinese Theatre. Architectures Costumes, Set Designs edited by Rosanna Pilone, Sabina Ragaini and Yu Weijie for Edizioni Electa of Milan in 1995. In 2014, MUSEC published the results of its research on the Collection in a catalogue Collection in a catalogue published by Silvana, and dedicated a scenographic exhibition in The Villa Heleneum.