The elevators of the J. Paul Leonard Library aren't usually ridden all the way up to the sixth floor.

While a few venture up out of curiosity, most library goers are unaware the floor is home to the Frank V. de Bellis Collection, a museum-library of Italian culture that has been part of SF State since 1963.

The collection includes 357 Etruscan, Greek and Roman artifacts, 15,000 books and 25,000 archival operatic and symphonic recordings. From 14th century manuscripts to 16th century orchestra scores, the collection's coins, 500-year-old books, lithographs, prints and music manuscripts are all available for viewing and careful handling.

Upon first glance, the two, usually closed wooden doors of the collection, which also serves as the Archives and Special Collections entrance, don't necessarily beg an invitation.

"I went up there one day but wasn't sure if I was allowed or not, so I didn't go in," said Rose Roberts, 26, a communicative disorders major.

Once inside the collection's large public room, the brown carpet and rose-colored curtains have a dated feel. Besides the handful of long wooden tables, and sparsely filled glass vitrines, there appears to be not much else to it.

The real treasures are there, you just have to know where to look. This is where Colomba L. Ghigliotti, who has been working with the collection for 28 years, comes in.

She has worked in the de Bellis Collection since she was a BA and MA student in Italian literature.

"They should come appreciate the antiquities, like Colomba," she said. Speaking with playful eyes and a mischievous smile, Ghigliotti, as she put it, is "60-something."

Starting with the fifth century B.C. terra cotta sarcophagus of a heavily draped, reclining male just past the entrance, one's curiosity becomes increasingly peaked the farther into the de Bellis collection one goes.

An illuminated glass case displays some of the coins that jingled in the hands of ancient Greeks and Romans during the rules of Caesar and Nero.

"I had a Roman history class and we checked out artifacts. It was pretty cool, I liked the ancient fish hooks," said Matt Hewitt, 21, a cinema major. "It made what we were reading about a lot more applicable because it was actual hands-on."

The de Bellis collection was partially acquired from various museums of archaeology in Italy and was donated to SF State in 1963 by the late Frank V. de Bellis. He was a San Francisco lover of the arts and patron of Italian culture who in his later life became an avid collector.

One of the de Bellis' most prized holdings, a beautiful forti piano made in London in 1809 by the factory owned by Muzio Clementi, is shielded behind a screen. Clementi, a name that every piano player knows well, is widely regarded as the father of modern piano playing. Perhaps making the piece particularly exciting for music majors is the fact that it is in playing condition.

"They were thrilled by the opportunity not only to look at such a beautiful piece of work of the time but also the chance to play it," said Ghigliotti of the seminar students who recently visited.

The collection's main room also holds the modern editions collection of circulating books. Out of 15,000 scholarly monographs, 13,000 are available to be checked out on subjects that represent the civilization of ancient to modern Italy in history, literature and some science. While most of the books are written in Italian, there is also a large number in English, Latin and Greek.

As proof that there is more than meets the eye in the de Bellis, most of the real rarities lie in the temperature-controlled and secured room at the back of the collection, where every piece is meticulously stored and classified.

According to the collection catalog, the artifacts, from vases and lamps, to statuettes and masks, were found in archaeological excavations in Sicily and Italy. They are representative of the culture that flourished in these areas as far back as 2400 B.C.
As an earthquake precaution, most of the antiquities, including period instruments and busts, aren't on display, but instead are stored in a thick layer of Styrofoam in metal cabinets that line the room.

Acid-free sheets of white paper protect exquisitely detailed and hand colored drawings and lithographs depict breath-taking Venetian scenes. The reds, greens and blues retain their vibrant hues. The same goes for the gold leaf detailing of a 1348 Oath of Allegiance for a high official of the Venetian Republic, bound in black leather and kept in an unassuming black box.

The collection's oldest holding is a scroll written in Latin from 1304. To this day, the thick black cursive writing of the St. Luke's Convent of the Hermit Friars remains perfectly legible.

Most of the work the collection does on a day-to-day basis is reference services for faculty members. The collection has worked in cooperation with Italian, history, classics, museum studies, theater arts and music instructors.

Pamela Vaughn, associate dean of the Center for Teaching and Faculty Development and former classics chair, used to take her Roman culture and Latin courses to see the collection for the documents in ancient languages and artifacts.

“It helped give students an idea of day-to-day life by, under careful supervision, handling the artifacts, like the ancient lamps," said Vaughn. "We could then talk about how some ancient instruments were used.”

If it were up to Ghigliotti, the tables of the de Bellis would always be filled with people.

"Students should come because it is clean and quiet, the best place to study, and for the amazing views," she said cheerfully, looking out towards the campus below. "I love my job," she said before saying goodbye. "Ciao, ciao."

The Frank V. de Bellis is open Monday through Thursday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Upcoming events include a concert and a lecture and exhibit on Italian writer Italo Calvino, featuring a visiting professor from Washington, D.C. on May 9. For more information call (415) 338-1649.