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Texts by Alessandro Napoli
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The Marionette Company Fratelli Napoli
The theatrical world of the Catanese Opira gave rise to its own forms of artistic craftsmanship: the puppets, the sets, and the posters. These artifacts, considered among the most significant products of Sicilian folk art, are the constituent elements of the so-called “mestiere,” that is, all the theatrical equipment that allowed the puppeteers to stage their performances. The Napoli family today preserves the only ancient Catanese-style mestiere that remains intact and complete, with which the Marionettistica has worked from 1921 to today.
The Catanese puppet theater gave rise to two important branches of pictorial craftsmanship: that of the sets, meaning the canvas backdrops used for the performances, and that of the posters, meaning the advertising posters on packing paper put up every evening to publicize the show. Rosario Napoli first and then his brother Natale were two of the most important painters of the Catanese Opera dei Pupi. Giuseppe Napoli learned the techniques of set design and poster making from his father Natale and still today, in the workshop, paints sets and cartelli following the dictates of tradition. The same chivalric subjects, as well as on canvas and paper, can also be reproduced on other supports: terracotta plates and jugs, cart key handles, even ostrich eggs.
The creation of the Catania puppets “as a craft” involves a complex series of skills, ranging from carving the pieces of the torso to sculpting and painting the head, from working on the armor to tailoring work.
It is an art that has been handed down for generations in the Napoli family. Pippo Napoli learned the basics and techniques of this particular form of craftsmanship from the ancient master coppersmiths who, in the early decades of the twentieth century, embossed the armor of theater puppets, up to 1.30 meters tall. Of these now century-old puppets, the only "craft" that has remained intact and complete is today jealously guarded by the Napoli family. Fiorenzo Napoli learned the rules of the art from his uncle Pippo and further perfected them through his own personal research, which allowed him to combine refined goldsmithing with traditional embossing techniques using pole and puntiddi.
They make art puppets in theater size (80/90 cm) and miniatures called “jewel puppets” of 30, 50, 65 cm with armor in brass, copper, and alpaca sheet.
This heritage of knowledge has been gathered by Davide Napoli, who today, together with his father Fiorenzo, builds the armor. Also collaborating in the workshop are Alessandro Napoli for the padding and lining of the torsos and Agnese Torrisi Napoli for the creation of the costumes.
Davide Napoli, following in his father's footsteps, has applied the ancient repoussé techniques of the master coppersmiths to the creation of refined jewelry in gold, silver, alpaca, copper, brass, and steel. Rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings are thus crafted entirely by hand using the same methods as the armor of the puppets. Other objects made in this way include interesting repoussé paintings with epic-chivalric themes and surreal metal masks.
All our works are made by hand
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