Founded in 1908 by Gaetano Ballardini, the MIC-International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza preserves a very rich collection that spans the centuries and all cultures to delve into the history related to a material as old as humanity.
The itinerary is divided into as many as sixteen sections.
On the ground floor one can admire the refined porcelain from the Far East that came to us through the “Porcelain Route” and that from Marco Polo onward also influenced Western production in its decorations; the most important collection in Italy of pre-Columbian ceramics with about two hundred objects from Mexico, Central and South America, some of which are very rare; ceramics from the Ancient Near East and ancient Egypt and Classical ceramics (Etruscan, Roman and Greek) as well as an overview of the production of the ancient Islamic world.

On the upper floor, we enter the heart of the collection with Faenza ceramics, which are displayed starting from the medieval period and moving through the Renaissance, a crucial period in Faenza production, to the Baroque. Faentine majolica, and in particular the “Faenza Whites,” starting in the mid-1500s and for more than a century had such widespread popularity and fame in Europe that the term “Faience” came to be identified with majolica.

Not to be missed is the section devoted to Italian Renaissance majolica. A marvellous collection exhibiting ceramics from the most important regional production centers in Italy: from the historiated majolica of the Duchy of Urbino, to the gilded and red lustres of Gubbio and Deruta to the polychrome pottery of Venice and Tuscan production where the Medici porcelain cup, a very rare example of Renaissance research addressed to porcelain production, stands out.

We move on to a broad overview of ceramics from 1600 to 1800 presented with a regional subdivision, but of great interest is the collection devoted to the Italian and European twentieth century, with ceramics from the Futurist, Art Nouveau, and Deco periods and works by great masters such as Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, Arturo Martini, Fontana, Leoncillo, and Burri or pieces from the great Italian and European manufactures.