PORTFOLIOS > THE ITALIAN PRESEPE - Cultural Landscapes of the Soul


cartapesta Lecce, Puglia
Mario di Donfrancesco Workshop
Cartapesta Statuary and Restoration
Lecce, Puglia
2013

THE ART OF CARTAPESTA

Puglia is steeped in the rich traditions of the confraternities, and in the eighteenth century artists of the region began utilizing cartapesta (papier-mâché) to create lightweight sculptures to be carried in religious processions. Lecce today remains a center for cartapesta, and the historic section of town is filled with workshops creating religious sculptures, commemoratives, and presepe figures from paper and paste.