To spot the National Museum Salce Collection, look for a modern, eye-catching logo featuring bold black geometric shapes that almost look like letters or numbers artistically arranged-if you see this striking emblem on a building ahead, you’re in the right place!
Now, imagine yourself standing at the crossroads of art, advertising, and a little bit of obsession-welcome to the National Museum Salce Collection! Behind these walls is a story that’s part treasure hunt, part love letter, and maybe just a dash of attic clutter. Let’s rewind about a century, to the bustling streets of Treviso at the end of the 19th century. Picture yourself alongside a young man-his name is Ferdinando Salce, but his friends call him Nando. Back then, posters weren’t just things stuck on lampposts; they were grand, colorful works of art, the Netflix trailers and Instagram ads of their day.
It all started in 1895 when seventeen-year-old Nando, pocket money burning a hole in his trousers, forked over one lira for a striking poster: Incandescenza a gas Auer, created by Giovanni Maria Mataloni. This wasn’t just any poster-it was a game-changer, praised as the first Italian billboard worthy of standing beside the glamorous posters lighting up Paris, London, and New York. And from that spark, Nando’s passion grew wilder than a runaway printing press. Some kids collected marbles-Nando collected posters. By the time he was done, he’d stashed away somewhere around 25,000 of them, each lovingly stored in his attic in Borgo Mazzini, right in the historic heart of Treviso.
Now, picture that attic: rolled-up posters in every corner, boxes of bold colors, sharp-edged fonts, mirrors of society’s dreams and schemes-and maybe the occasional worried glance from the maid dusting under the piles. Nando didn’t keep his treasures to himself. He swapped letters with artists and printers, formed alliances with other collectors, and scoured the city for posters destined for the trash heap. You could say he was Italy’s earliest recycler, only with much fancier paper.
When Nando passed away in 1962, he left his colossal collection with the Italian State, hoping it would help spark creativity in students and artists far into the future. But for a while, his dream looked a bit dusty-the collection sat, waiting for a home of its own, shown off only in occasional exhibitions. It wasn’t until 2014 that the Ministry of Culture said, “Let’s do this right!” and created a national museum fit for such a collection-a place where every poster could have its moment in the spotlight, not just in Nando’s attic but here among you!
Step inside today, and you’ll find yourself transported through time and style. The collection now numbers around 50,000 posters and placards. Some are bold and glamorous, like those created by Marcello Dudovich or Leonetto Cappiello, artists who made advertising as prestigious as fine art. It’s an all-star cast-think of Achille Luciano Mauzan, Gino Boccasile, Franz Lenhart, Federico Seneca, and international legends like Jules Chéret, Henri Matisse, and Alfons Mucha. And yes, there are also gems by futurists like Umberto Boccioni and the surreal Giorgio De Chirico! You’ll see more than just rectangles on a wall: there are tin signs, shaped cardboard standees, vibrant locandine, and playful peeks into how people once saw the world-and were sold on it.
But it’s not just pretty pictures. This collection is also a behind-the-scenes tour of the magic of printing-from chromolithography to zincography to photomechanical wizards, you’ll get a sense of how new technologies changed the look and feel of what people saw on their streets and in shop windows. And don’t miss the museum’s venues: you might find yourself in the former church of Santa Margherita, a soaring hall, where centuries-old frescoes and cutting-edge multimedia displays mix, or in the San Gaetano complex with exhibitions that rotate like a carousel of artistic wonders.
Every visit is different, just like Nando would’ve liked it-a museum that’s always changing, always surprising. Nando, with his sharp eye and quick wit, would no doubt get a kick out of knowing that kids today come here wide-eyed, gawping at the splashy colors just as he did over a hundred years ago. So take a good look, breathe in that sense of fun, innovation, and maybe just a hint of obsession. After all, not everyone can say their most prized collection is a national treasure-and not in the attic anymore!
Want to explore the the salce collection, exhibition venues, warehouses, restoration laboratories or the temporary exhibitions in more depth? Join me in the chat section for a detailed discussion.
