Museo di Capodimonte
Gilje was born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. She received her BFA from the City College of New York and trained as a conservator from 1967 to 1971 at the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, Italy. Gilje apprenticed in Rome with the restorer of antique paintings, Antonio deMata, from 1966 to 1968. Gilje continued her apprenticeship from 1968 to 1972 at the Museum of Capodimonte in Naples.