One of my personal passions is seeing how things are made. Regular readers know I love food and wine. Nothing pleases me more than spending an afternoon at a winery or an olive oil mill or with a cheese producer. But I love seeing how anything is made; whether it be a pencil or pasta. And this is one of my favorite things about Italy: It is so easy to see how things are made! A walk through one of my favorite neighborhoods in Rome will take me past an upholsterer, a man who makes custom picture frames, some fabulous seamstresses, jewelry designers and artists. What is so wonderful is there they all are, sitting in their shops, actually making their products. A casual stroll becomes a learning experience. It’s like a living museum. This isn’t true to just Rome. It’s true to all of Italy.
| I was recently in the beautiful town of Lecce located in Puglia, the “heel” of the “boot” of Italy. Lecce really has it all: Beautiful archaeological ruins located in the heart of the town, elegant Baroque buildings, delicious food and wines, and wonderful people. A stroll through the historic center took me past several artisanal shops. One in particular caught my eye. |  |
 | I was enticed in by the display of disembodied body parts, and the interesting statue, made of straw in the entry. I was about to enter into the world of Claudio Riso. Claudio’s workshop is where he creates amazing works of art from…..paper. Paper Mache to be more precise.  |
Claudio and his small crew of artisans make two distinctly different types of sculptures, but they all start the same way. Firstly, he makes large religious statues which are ordered by churches and others who simply want a sacred figure in their presence. When I was there, they were packing up a life size figure of Christ on the cross in a specially built crate to be sent to a church. When I realized how prevalent his Paper Mache figures were, I started taking a second look at all the “statues” in Lecce’s churches. Sure enough, so many of them were actually Paper Mache!
| The second type of sculpture he creates are small figures from everyday peasant life. These figures are often placed in a diorama type setting, and represent the history of the area. Every bit of the diorama is made by hand, and often by corresponding art specialists. For example, a kitchen scene might have real miniature ceramic pots and little brass cooking pans all made by local artisans. A fishing scene will have fishing nets made by area fishermen. Wood carvers are employed to make certain bits. Everyone and everything has its place. |
Whether he is creating a large religious sculpture or a small diorama scene, the human figures begin the same way. A core of iron wire is lined with straw, and wrapped tightly with string. This “figure” can be posed as need be. Someone’s job is to make nothing but little terra cotta heads, hands and feet which are mounted on the figures. Now, we are finally ready for the Paper Mache to clothe the figures. Special paper soaked in flour glue is wrapped, pressed and formed to create the main body of the figure. After a drying process comes the painting and coloring. Voila! A very realistic human form has been created.
  |  At one time in the history of Lecce, there were an abundance of Paper Mache artists. But as with many things, over time they disappeared. Claudio was apprenticed as a youngster to study this special process of Paper Mache, and now he has apprentices working with him. Claudio and his staff work hard not only to make these charming figures, but also to maintain this dying tradition. It’s fascinating, isn’t it….to see an artisan at work….to witness the creation of something special by someone who is passionate about what they do? I can’t get enough of it. Come with me to Italy….to Puglia….to Lecce. There is so much to see and do there. We can go meet Claudio, watch him work, even have a lesson if we want to get our hands dirty. Drop me a line at [email protected] and let’s start planning your next trip to Italy. |
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