Italian folk art

Folk art in the Italian trade is not a leftover drawer of anything rustic. The pieces collectors can actually study come from known regional workshops: Sicilian painted carts with distinct Palermo and Catania hands, the opera dei pupi, Neapolitan presepe figures, and painted ex-voto or domestic wares with a local palette. Each has a construction. A cart panel is oil on a prepared board with a repertory of battles and saints, and later panels were painted for the wall rather than for a working cart. A puppet has a carved head, a metal joint and a costume that was replaced in use; the head and the control are the object. Presepe figures are terracotta or wood with wired arms, and a complete crib of one fresh style is a warning. These articles name the regional school and the parts that were renewed in an honest working life.

2 articles

Folk Art

Sicilian Painted Carts of the Palermo and Catania Schools

Sicilian painted carts are identified by school. Palermo uses trapezoidal yellow masciddari; Catania, rectangular sides, ironwork and signed panels.

Folk Art

Sicilian Puppets: Opera dei Pupi History & Collector's Guide

Identify antique Sicilian puppets from the Opera dei Pupi: Palermo vs Catania schools, armour emblems, and how collectors date a working pupo.