Let me make this clear,’ says Giorgio Spanu, ‘our first mission is teaching, teaching and more teaching.’  Spanu’s wife, Nancy Olnick, continues, ‘We’re more interested in giving than owning.’ Spanu bats the conversation back, ‘As we learn about art we educate ourselves, then it’s a pleasure to share, to educate others.’ Olnick again: ‘Magazzino will be free, we shall use any donations to bring art to inner cities.’

Such repartee has been a feature of the sunny afternoon that I have spent with the couple around the dining table in their hilltop home. From its glass-encased living space, the 360-degree views encompass the still-leafless wood, spring flowers amid vestiges of winter snow, and sweeping views across the Hudson Valley. Conversation about their two collections of Italian art has stayed more or less on track.