Southern Italy: Ceramics, Glass, Decorative Arts; Art Nouveau/Liberty Style

I wish I could be more help. I love Art Nouveau, but that means I look for it everywhere, and I don't necessarily remember precisely what I saw at any particular spot. As a result, I remember spending a fair amount of time at Villa Floridiana in Naples but cannot tell you how much of what I saw was Art Nouveau/Liberty.

The Diego Aragona Pignatelli Cortes Museum and Carriage Museum, also in Naples, has a ceramics collection. I know it includes Asian ceramics. Liberty? I just don't remember.

Naples has quite a lot of Liberty-style architecture, sometimes most noticeable in the form of wrought-iron balconies and railings. I saw a lot of it in the Vomero neighborhood and south of there, though I never made it all the way down to the waterfront where there's said to be a lot of Liberty.

I popped over to Vietri sul Mare from Salerno for a few hours and wandered around randomly, looking for architectural tile work, of which I found quite a bit. Vietri is very hilly, so wear comfortable shoes.

I especially enjoyed the architecture of the Quartiere Coppede in Rome.

I was unimpressed by the Musei di Villa Torlonia. The museums include the Musee du Vitrail Art Nouveau, whose primary focus in stained glass. The stained glass was OK (it's not my favorite medium), but the bits and pieces of other decorative elements didn't impress me. My notes say they are "mostly a reconstruction from documentation following 1991 fire and earlier damage". Perhaps the rebuilding was done on the cheap? I've seen much better Art Nouveau decor in so many places; it was shocking to be so disappointed in something calling itself a Museum of Art Nouveau Glass.

The Boncompagni Ludovisi Decorative Arts Museum in Rome is small, but I found it worthwhile; it had some late-19th or early-20th century work. The Museo Nationale del Palazzo Venezia has the city's largest collection of decorative art, but I think it was primarily, maybe exclusively, older items.

More Liberty architecture/decor in Rome...

Galleria Sciarra, at Piazza Santi Apostoli/Via Marco Minghetti 9-10, has recently-restored Art Nouveau frescoes. I think it's open weekdays only.

Galleria Alberto Sordi (formerly Galleria Colonna) is worth checking out as well.

The Giolitti gelateria at Via degli’ Uffici del Vicario 40 has an Art Nouveau interior.

The Prati neighborhood has a good bit of Art Nouveau architecture, but Quartiere Coppede is the standout.

Sorry to be so vague about what you'd see at each spot, but perhaps you can find out enough from Google to decide which places would be worthwhile for you. On the architecture front, I believer there's a lot more Art Nouveau up in Milan and Turin.

Appreciate all your advice. Very helpful! I love ceramics and glass of all periods and hoping to see some ancient roman examples at the Archaeological Museum and sites. As you mentioned, much of the Art Nouveau is in the north, and also Palermo. Your detailed list has given me hope of finding it in Rome and Naples too. Grazie Mille!

It doesn't seem to fit your itinerary this year, but the next time you're farther north, I recommend going to the ceramics museum in Faenza. It includes contemporary items.