COLLECTION : “THE NEAPOLITAN CRIB IN THE WORLD”  EDITED BY FRANCO MANCINI

EACH VOLUME OF THE COLLECTION IS BASED ON A RICH ICONOGRAPHIC PRESENTATION COMPOSED OF ONE OR MORE  GLOBAL CONSIDERATIONS OF THE WORK, TAKEN ONE AT A TIME, AND RELATING TO A LARGE SECTION OF CRIB FIGURES, EACH SINGLE ONE ILLUSTRATED AS A FULL FIGURE BUT SHOWING AN ENLARGED ILLUSTRATION  OF THE HEAD ALSO. THE INFORMATION REGARDING THE CHOSEN PIECES IS IN A TECHNICAL FILE WHICH INDICATES  THE DIMENSIONS, THE PLACE OF ORIGIN AND WHERE POSSIBLE  THE EVENTUAL CONNECTION TO ANTIQUE COLLECTIONS , THE CONDITION  OF THE CLOTHES IN WHICH IT IS DRESSED, THE CHANGES MADE,  AND THE ROLE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO PLAY. THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE  PRECEDED BY  A NOTE CONTAINING INFORMATION OF THE ORIGIN AND OF THE  SIZE OF THE COLLECTIONS AND, AT THE BEGINNING,  A PERSONAL OPINION OF THE NEAPOLITAN CRIBS WRITTEN BY AN EMINENT  REPRESENTATIVE OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE.
THE COLLECTION’S  INTENT IS TO OFFER  THE  READER A USEFUL INSTRUMENT, MAKING IT EASIER TO DETERMINE THE CRITICAL CATALOGUE  OF  THESE  WORKS OF ART AVOIDING ONCE AND FOR ALL THE LIMITS AND THE MISTAKES OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HISTORY. IT WANTS TO BE ANOTHER  INCENTIVE TO PREPARE THAT  WELL STUDIED CATALOGUE  OF THE WORKS – DESCRIBED BY LIONELLO VENTURI AS “THE MASTERPIECE OF THE  PHILOLOGICAL VALUATION OF  THESE WORKS OF ART”- ALSO IN THE AREA OF THIS SUBJECT WHICH, APART FROM ANY  USELESS  ARGUEMENTS, REMAINS ONE OF THE  MOST ORIGINAL  INVENTIONS OF THE CREATIVE   NEAPOLITAN PEOPLE.
THE VOLUMES PUBLISHED REFER TO PRIVATE  ITALIAN COLLECTIONS, IN THE FUTURE WE SHALL WORK TOWARDS OTHER PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, BOTH GERMAN AND SPANISH AND AS THE  FOREIGN TRAVELLERS (OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY) DID WE SHALL MAKE A DIARY  NOTING EVEN THE MOST MINUTE DETAILS OF THE “PIECES” WE  BUMP INTO ON THE  WAY.
SPAIN, SECOND ONLY TO NAPLES  IN THE POSSESSION  AND RICHNESS OF OBJECTS, <<IN FACT CARLO III  QUIETLY  LEFT THE  CAPITAL, TAKING WITH HIM WHOLE  WARDROBES  FULL OF CRIB FIGURES>>, WILL BE  THE NEXT NATION  TO BE  VISITED IN THE NEAR FUTURE.