Marie Antoinette’s Breast as a Milk Cup

We checked into Il Convento early - our hotel in the Spanish quarter of Naples, thus we had a full day of unplanned adventure. We had lunch right next to the Funicula, so after some disappointing pizza (OMG, how could that be in Napoli?), we took it just to see what is at the top. Rick Steve’s doesn’t cover this so we were on our own. We happened upon Villa Floridiana, built in the early 19th c by a Ferdinando I, King of two Sicilies for his beloved wife Lucia (of lower caste). 100 years later (1919) the government bought the villa and turned it into a museum, and since 1931 it houses the Duke of Martina’s impressive Ceramics Collection. “The breast shaped cup is made of Sevres porcelain and belongs to the milk set that Queen Marie Antoinette wished for Rambouillet dairy, a real temple dedicated to the tasting of milk and milk products. The Queen had them created to satisfy the bucolic and pastoral tastes, very typical of those years. Legend has it the cup was shaped on Marie Antoinette’s breast to celebrate her 4th daughter’s birth. The milk set was achieved at the time of the French Revolution, so the pieces the crown couldn’t buy were sold to private collectors, such as the Duke of Martina.” Weird rich people. The villa also has an incredible view of Naples and the Bay. Serendipitous discoveries.