MUSEO DELLA CERAMICA G. GIANETTI

The Giuseppe Gianetti Ceramics Museum, inaugurated in 1994, is a cultural centre that houses a collection of around 700 valuable 18th-century and contemporary ceramics; it is housed in a 1937 villa that was the home of the historical Saronnese family, the Biffi family. The collection and the villa are donations made by the Gianetti-Biffi families to the COE (Centro Orientamento Educativo) Foundation. The structure and furnishings of the period villa have been preserved intact. Noteworthy are the handmade railings of the staircase leading to the second floor of the Museum, the Murano glass chandeliers, and the elaborate parquet flooring. Also accessible is the garden surrounding the Museum with its small rose garden and contemporary art installations. The museum houses 200 works from Meissen in Germany, the first manufactory to produce porcelain in Europe. It also houses Italian, European and Oriental porcelain. The Italian manufactures include Hewelcke, Vezzi, Ginori and Capodimonte. There is a section devoted to 'fine' Italian and European majolica, consisting mainly of pieces from northern Italy. A further section is that of contemporary ceramics, established thanks to donations from various artists who have exhibited in the museum or won the CoffeeBreak.museum, a biennial competition dedicated to young artists working with ceramics. In 2015, the collection of Professor Aldo Marcenaro (1931-2011) was inaugurated, its 24 pieces complementing the philological, stylistic and historical path of Gianetti's collection.