Villa Floridiana and the Ceramics Museum

Villa Floridiana is a site of historic and artistic interest in Naples. The complex was once part of the buildings used by the Bourbon royals and, since 1927, has also housed the Duca di Martina National Ceramics Museum.

by Alessia Giannino

Villa Floridiana is a site of historic and artistic interest in Naples.

The complex was once part of the buildings used by the Bourbon royals and, since 1927, has also housed the Duca di Martina National Ceramics Museum.

History

Floridiana was purchased in 1815 by Ferdinand IV of Bourbon for his wife Lucia Migliaccio, Duchess of Floridia, widow of Prince Benedetto III Grifeo di Partanna, from whom the name derives.

Later, in 1917, the king also purchased the neighbouring property, gaining a second entrance towards Chiaia. The architect Antonio Niccolini was tasked with restructuring the old building, creating the villa in neoclassical style with an extensive romantic-style park, complete with avenues and paths designed and laid out by Friedrich Dehnhardt, director of the Botanical Garden of Naples. He adorned the park with 150 species of plants, including holm oaks, palms, pines, plane trees, box hedges and a rich collection of camellias.

When the works were completed, the complex included two villas: Villa Lucia and Villa Floridia, along with an open-air theatre, a small circular temple and greenhouses. Upon the death of Ferdinand IV and his wife, the entire complex was inherited by the children from the duchess's first marriage. Villa Lucia and part of the park were later sold to Count Pasquale Mancini, who made it his family residence. Floridiana and the rest of the park, on the other hand, were purchased by the State in 1919, which displayed there the ceramic collections of the Duke of Martina.

Today

Today the museum houses a very rich collection of objects from the second half of the nineteenth century, collected and donated to the city of Naples in 1911 by the Duke himself. As for the villa's furnishings and decorations, very little remains: mythological deities, nymphs and sea monsters were rendered in stucco or painted against light green and lilac backgrounds. The decoration of the great gallery, however, is still visible today and, at the centre of the two main walls, features two marble fireplaces with Ionic columns topped by large mirrors. The vault was painted by Giuseppe Cammarano.

As for the museum, it is spread over three floors:

• on the ground floor, alongside some paintings, are displayed ivories, enamels, tortoiseshell, corals and bronzes from the medieval and Renaissance periods, Renaissance and Baroque majolica, glass and crystal from the 15th–18th centuries, furniture, small chests and decorative objects;
• on the first floor, visitors can admire the collection of European porcelain from the 18th century, made up of groups from the most important eighteenth-century manufacturers — Meissen, Doccia, Naples and Capodimonte — as well as French, German and English porcelain.
• on the basement floor, finally, a section of Oriental art objects has been rearranged in recent years, notably including the collection of Chinese porcelain from the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties, as well as Japanese Kakiemon and Imari pieces.

Address and contacts
Address: via Cimarosa, 77 / via Aniello Falcone, 171 - 80127 Naples 
Tel. 081.5788418/5569803/2294700/0815781776
Web: pm-cam.martina@beniculturali.it / mbac-pm-cam@mailcert.beniculturali.it