Neapolitan manufacture, 18th century
Two heads of nativity figures
Carved and painted wood with glass paste eyes, max height 14.5 cm
Among the refined artistic productions of 18th-century Naples, the two small heads examined represent an excellent testimony to that "miniature sculpture" which elevated the nativity scene from a devotional rite to a phenomenon of the highest international collecting. Made of finely carved and polychrome wood, these works stand out from the more common terracotta production due to the preciousness of the material and the precision of the burin, suggesting a destination for figures of particular hierarchical importance within the spectacular nativity scenes of the time.
These sculptures merge Baroque naturalism and idealization, coming to life thanks to expert glazes of the complexion and the use of glass paste eyes, inserted from the inside to give a vital and theatrical gaze. If the male face, with its flowing beard and proud expression, ennobles popular features according to the Arcadian taste, the female figure embodies composed elegance: the diaphanous skin and symmetrical hairstyles refer to the educated models of the nobility or 18th-century angelic figures. These small heads were born in the cultural climate promoted by Charles of Bourbon, a sovereign who transformed Naples into a cosmopolitan capital. In the 18th century, the nativity scene became the stage for reality: alongside the Nativity, artists—often the same ones who worked on the great Bourbon projects, such as the famous Giuseppe Sanmartino—modeled a varied and teeming humanity. The figures that have survived to our days are mostly isolated and therefore devoid of the compositional variations and ephemeral scenography in which they were placed, which must have recalled the pictorial landscape painting of the 17th and 18th centuries. Nevertheless, they show us a part of what must have been a representation curated by multiple workshops, responsible for the naturalistic or architectural scenography, the sculptures, the "trimmings" (details like fruit and vegetables), the animals, or the "clothing," and organized by a specialist to oversee the whole.
Originally, these heads were mounted on mannequins made of wire and tow, a flexible structure that allowed the figures to be given dynamic and realistic movements, before being covered with silks from San Leucio, fine embroidery, and tiny silver or coral jewels.
