Ceramics and Artistic Nativity (Figulina Tradition)

The first hints on the history of the origins of the ceramic art of Caltagirone can be traced back to the seventeenth century, when the historian and Jesuit Giovanni Chiarandà wrote, in his work "Piazza, city of Sicily“, That the working of ceramics, in the Calatina city, was prior to the coming of the Arabs and carried out by many potters.

The scientific basis of this historical information derives from the excavations carried out by the archaeologist Paolo Orsi in the territory of Caltagirone, in particular in the villages of Scala, Pile and S. Ippolito which return examples of ceramics dating back to the 1000th millennium BC. The rediscovered pottery, with flask or fruit bowl shapes, presented geometric decorations painted in brown with a yellow and reddish background. It is certified that the use of the lathe in Sicily was introduced around the year XNUMX BC following contacts with the Greek world.

In the Byzantine period they were the "stazzunari”To produce pottery of coarse workmanship, without glaze or paint, worked on the lathe with horizontal streaks. It will be the Arabs in 827 AD who favored local production, determining a relaunch of local crafts and transferring their knowledge on the subject.  

Through the shapes, decorations and colors it is possible to proceed to a correct dating of the ceramic, these elements differed according to the historical period of production.

In the medieval period we find the production of basins with not very wide brims, decorated with manganese. In this period of splendor, the coats of arms of religious orders or aristocratic families who came to Sicily from Spain following the Aragonese were preferred for Caltagirone ceramics. An important fragment to testify to the use of this type of plastic decoration is the fragment of a basin with a Jesuit monogram in relief preserved in Piazza Armerina, dated to 1568 and attributed to the Calatine master Iovannello Maurici.

During the 500th century the preference for calligraphic and geometrical decorations in blue on white enamel began, the result of the fashion of the market of the time.

The influence of oriental charm is particularly affirmed in the 600th century and finds ample space in the decorations of the porcelain which also reflect the Renaissance decorative schemes. It is to respond to the exuberance of the previous chromatism that in Faenza the style "white summaries“, Characterized by a clean and legible majolica with essential decorations placed at the center of the object. At the same time in Caltagirone the ceramic of use developed some important innovations such as the creation of the flask tambura, capable of holding more water. The lack of innovation in decoration can be attributed to the atmosphere that was experienced in eastern Sicily due to natural disasters or human causes. The earthquake will have great repercussions on the human and professional training of artisans. In eastern Sicily the earthquake of 1693 brought with it a process of rebuilding the destroyed cities in an attempt to bring the population back to normal life. Following this event i canetari, artisans specialized in the production of ceramic, worked tirelessly, constantly innovating their art, starting to experiment with new forms and continuing to produce various types of tableware: fourth reddi, howl, canned, molds for mustard and sludge large dishes that served a thousand uses. The Bertolone brothers, for example, created drained artifacts in imitation of marble. It is in this historical period that the city furnaces began to produce floors, vases with relief decorations and paintings, holy water fonts, altar frontals, statuettes and architectural decorations for churches and bell towers. At the same time, artists such as the masters Polizzi, Dragotta, Branciforti, Bertolone, Blandini, Ventimiglia, Capoccia, Di Bartolo established themselves.

 Due to the collapse of the development of ceramics, consequential to the earthquake, the Calatini artisans, to arouse new interest, began to open up to roba Sicilian produced mainly in Campania.

The ceramic was able to flourish again only in the eighteenth century when it followed new artistic directions, it represented the search for luxury and elegance mixed with a taste for the ephemeral and for ornaments.

In the history of ceramics, the nineteenth century opens with an innovation: the development of industrial products such as earthenware in the English way and cement for floors begins. The development of this practice resulted in a period of decline for potters. Only the most skilled were able to work like the Caltini Giacomo Bongiovanni and his nephew Giuseppe Vaccaro, known for their terracotta figurines.

 

The eighteenth century can be defined as the golden age of nativity scenes. In fact, it was between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that the commission for the construction of these artifacts increased progressively. Historical period in which the Viceroys and the very rich and powerful ecclesiastical orders competed for the commission and for the possession of the most precious and at the same time sumptuous cribs. Nativity scenes that often crossed the borders of Sicily, reaching the most refined European courts.

In the Calatina area, towards the end of the 700th century and in the following century, there is a group of artists who were inspired by the figulina tradition, from which a group of masters known as "sanctariums"and "pasturaries".

In the nineteenth century the greatest exponent of figurine art in Sicily was the master Giacomo Bongiovanni, who expressed his artistic genius by shaping clay figurines that found widespread diffusion everywhere. The modeling technique, a traditional Calatina technique, was widely used by the artist in his workshop, which had already been opened as far back as 1794. The master, however, did not disdain to embrace classical orientations as well, as evidenced by the decoration of the altar of the Church of the Crucifix in Caltagirone.

Currently the crib production, while always looking at the legacy coming from the great Calatina tradition, does not fail to merge and give rise to new genres, the result of classic mixes with modern intuitions and personal interpretations, thus representing the sum of different schools and trends.