The Carillon Collection of Enrico Salierno

The second floor of Villa Fiorentino houses a permanent exhibition of music boxes donated to the city of Sorrento by cabinetmaker Enrico Salierno.

The latter, a native of the historic center of Sorrento, found his fortune in America with the art of Sorrentine marquetry.

Between the 1960s and 1970s he opened a workshop in Los Angeles in which he devoted himself to the import and export of typical Sorrento artifacts (caskets, paintings, game tables etc.) on which various inlaid works were applied, the artistic and manual expression of the local craft tradition. Also included in the manufacturing process was the assembly of music boxes.

From year to year the cabinetmaker, in the company of his wife, would return here to Sorrento to reunite with his family and friends, but above all to prepare orders to be sent to his workshop in the US.

Having come to the end of his professional cycle, Enrico Salierno, as a sign of gratitude to his native land and its craftsmen, decided to donate to the city of Sorrento a part of his patrimony that best represented “his” world of origin: a very rare and valuable collection of music boxes, collected during his years of activity, mounted on fine furniture of both Sorrento and international origin.

Subsequent to Enrico’s death, thanks to the invaluable collaboration of his wife and fraternal friend Mario Cimmino, as well as the Sorrento Foundation and the Sorrento Inlay Craftsmen’s Union, it was possible to conclude all the complex bureaucratic and transportation procedures for the artifacts from Los Angeles to Sorrento.

All that was needed was a stable location where all these works could be kept on display: what better place than Villa Fiorentino?

The Sorrento Foundation, therefore, is proud to dedicate this entire space to the Salierno Collection on the second floor of the villa.

The room is entitled “Enrico Salierno, artisan of Sorrento”.

Access to the exhibition is included in the cost of the Villa Fiorentino ticket.