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 linked to a material as ancient as humanity.
The itinerary develops in sixteen sections.
On the ground floor you can admire the refined porcelains of the Far East that have reached us through the “Via della Porcellana” and that from Marco Polo onwards have influenced the decorations of Western production; 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; the ceramics of the Ancient Near East and Ancient Egypt and the Classical ones (Etruscan, Roman and Greek) as well as an overview of the production of the ancient Islamic world.

On the upper floor you enter the heart of the collection with the Faenza ceramics that are exhibited starting from the medieval period to arrive at the Baroque, passing through the Renaissance, a crucial period of Faenza production. Faenza majolica and in particular the “Bianchi di Faenza” from the mid-1500s and for over a century had such diffusion and fame in Europe that the term “Faience” was identified with majolica.

Not to be missed is the section dedicated to Italian Renaissance majolica. A wonderful collection that displays ceramics from the most important regional production centers of Italy: from the historiated majolica of the Duchy of Urbino, to the gold and red lustres of Gubbio and Deruta to the polychrome vases of Venice and the Tuscan production where the Medici porcelain cup stands out, a very rare example of Renaissance research aimed at the production of porcelain.

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 dedicated to the Italian and European twentieth century, with ceramics from the Futurist, Liberty, Deco periods and works by great masters such as Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, Arturo Martini, Fontana, Leoncillo, Burri or pieces from the great Italian and European manufacturers.