Housed in some of the halls of the Ducal Court and on the first and second floors of the Rocchetta, the Museo delle Arti Decorative is the most important collection of its kind in Italy.
The museum documents the evolution of taste and style in the sumptuar, decorative and applied arts from antiquity to the 1950s. The display also includes a collection of 20Th and 21st century artistic glass. The itinerary through the museum leads viewers through masterpieces and artefacts of exceptional quality created by glassblowers, potters, woodcarvers, violin makers, silver and goldsmiths, gunsmiths, weavers and creators of tapestries active throughout Europe, from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The collection includes tapestries, weapons, ivories, bronzes, ceramics, leather, wrought iron, majolica, jewellery, clocks, porcelain, enamels, fabrics, scientific instruments and glass. The weapons and some tapestries are on display in the first rooms of the Ducal Court; the second floor of the so-called Rocchetta is instead entirely dedicated to the applied arts.