Ceramiche per l’Architettura della Fabbrica Ferniani nel secondo Ottocento: il Cimitero dell’Osservanza e l’Oratorio di villa Case Grandi a Faenza

The Ferniani Factory of Faenza was established in 1693 and remained, for over two centuries, a nationally significant reference point for ceramic production in Italy. The factory's last proprietor, Annibale IV (1824–1893), decisively steered its output toward the historicist trends that dominated the late nineteenth century, particularly those inspired by the neo-Della Robbia aesthetic. A leading figure in this stylistic direction at Ferniani was Giovanni Collina (1820–1893), alongside his sons Giuseppe (1847–1916) and Raffaele (1852–1938). Collina produced works in the Della Robbia manner for major exhibitions—such as Vienna in 1865, Faenza in 1875, and Paris in 1878. His skills as a modeler were also employed in architectural decoration. The neo-Della Robbia style came to characterize the ornamentation of two prominent contexts: the Chiesa and Manfredi cloisters of the Osservanza cemetery in Faenza, and the Oratory of San Filippo Neri at the Villa Case Grandi of the Counts Ferniani in Errano, near Faenza. This latter complex, originally late eighteenth-century in its layout and later expanded by Count Annibale in a neo-Renaissance style, is particularly notable for its richly articulated majolica decoration. These ceramic elements, which cover the interior walls and the intrados of the dome, draw inspiration—both in form and spirit—from the Pazzi Chapel in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, a masterpiece by Luca Della Robbia. Through recent studies and preliminary geometric surveys of the small monumental oratory—now in a severely deteriorated state of conservation—alongside archival research into the Ferniani factory’s documentation, this contribution seeks to analyze the site's material consistency. It focuses on the execution techniques and installation methods of the majolica decoration, with particular attention given to the organization of the Collina workshop and its role within the broader production of the Ferniani Factory.