Museo della Ceramica Duca di Martina (Villa Floridiana)

The Duca di Martina Ceramics Museum occupies a neoclassical villa in Villa Floridiana on Naples's Vomero hill. Its collection of more than 6,000 works spans European and Asian ceramics, glass and ivory, from medieval maiolica to Meissen and Ming porcelain.

Why it matters

The museum grew from the collection of Placido de Sangro, Duke of Martina. His heirs donated the collection to Naples in 1911, and the museum was established in 1926. It brings European and Oriental decorative arts together in a single collection.

What to notice

The piano nobile displays 18th-century European porcelain, including Meissen, Doccia and Capodimonte pieces. Among them is Il bacio, a Meissen group modelled by J. J. Kändler in 1736, and a Sèvres milk cup made for Marie Antoinette in 1788–89. The ground floor includes medieval and Renaissance ivories, enamels, corals, bronzes, maiolica and glass. The basement presents Chinese Ming and Qing porcelain and Japanese Kakiemon and Imari wares.

Context and history

Ferdinand I of Bourbon bought the property in 1817 for Lucia Migliaccio, Duchess of Floridia. Architect Antonio Niccolini restructured the villa and grounds between 1817 and 1819, shaping the building and its English-style park. After the duchess's death in 1826, the estate passed through her heirs. The State acquired it in 1919 for museum use; the ceramics collection was donated in 1911 and the museum established in 1926.