By Ines Keane
A Sicilian knight puppet hangs from a rod that runs through its head. Which kind of knight it is depends on which end of the island built it. Wikipedia sets the Palermo and Catania traditions out in a table, and the differences are practical, not decorative.
What the tradition is
Wikipedia says the Opera dei Pupi was proclaimed a “Masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity” in 2001 and entered on the UNESCO Representative List in 2008. It dates the form to the 1820s and says its exact birthplace and date are hard to pin down. Chronicles name Gaetano Greco and Liberato Canino as initiators in Palermo, and Gaetano Crimi and Giovanni Grasso in Catania.
The stories are mainly the Carolingian cycle: paladins serving the emperor Charlemagne, Princess Angelica, and the traitor Gano. Wikipedia says the prose base is Giusto Lo Dico’s History of the Paladins of France. A museum-guide site adds that the theatre also told the history of the Crusades.
Palermo and Catania, side by side
According to Wikipedia:
- Height: Palermo puppets about 90 cm; Catania puppets 110 to 130 cm.
- Weight: Palermo 5 to 10 kg; Catania up to about 30 kg.
- Legs: Palermo knees are articulated, giving a swinging movement; Catania legs are not.
- Sword: in Palermo a wire links the hand to the hilt, so the sword can be sheathed; in Catania it is held in the right hand with no wire.
- Operators: in Palermo they stand at the sides of the stage, level with the puppets, on a stage deeper than it is wide; in Catania they work from a raised bridge behind the backdrop, on a stage wider than it is deep.
- Music: Palermo used violins and later a barrel organ; Catania an orchestra with plectrum instruments, sometimes accordion and winds, now often recorded.
- Posters: Palermo’s are tempera on canvas, usually in eight squares; Catania’s are tempera on wrapping paper, showing one scene.
How a puppet is built and moved
Wikipedia says the puppets have a wooden frame or a padded wooden skeleton, and wear real, decorated, chiselled armour. They are moved by threads and metal rods. The main rod runs through the head into the torso and has a hooked upper end, so the puppet can be hung and tilted. Speakers behind the backdrop voice the characters.
A museum in Palermo
The Museo internazionale delle marionette is named for Antonio Pasqualino. Italy’s national tourism site says it was founded in 1975, occupies the former Hotel de France in Palermo, and holds over 5,000 pieces. A Palermo museum directory also says about 5,000, and says it has the most extensive collection of pupi from the Palermo, Catania and Naples traditions. A third site says about 4,000 items, including hand puppets, shadow puppets, theatrical machines and playbills, and names Thailand, Vietnam and Burma among the places objects come from. It adds that the museum runs an annual festival, the Festival di Morgana.
Where the sources disagree
- Collection size: about 5,000 (tourism site and directory) against about 4,000 (the third site).
- The reference library: about 7,000 books (third site) against about 3,000 volumes (directory).
- Who Pasqualino was: a surgeon who researched puppet traditions (tourism site) against an anthropologist (directory and third site). Our reading: he may have been both, but none of the three says so.
- A founding body: the tourism site names an Association for the Conservation of Folk Traditions as founder in 1975; the directory says Pasqualino founded an association in 1965 to preserve popular traditions. These may be the same body, and we do not claim they are.
Dates in order
- 1820s: the form emerges, according to Wikipedia.
- Late 19th century: decline recorded by Giuseppe Pitrè, according to Wikipedia.
- 1930s: a further crisis, blamed on cinema, according to Wikipedia.
- 1950s and 1960s: another, linked to urban change and shifting taste, according to Wikipedia.
- 1965: Pasqualino founds an association, according to the directory.
- 1975: the museum is founded, according to the tourism site, the directory and the third site.
- 2001: proclaimed a Masterpiece, according to Wikipedia and the third site.
- 2008: entered on the Representative List, according to Wikipedia.
What kind of sources these are
Wikipedia is an open encyclopaedia, and we could not load UNESCO’s own page for this listing. Italy’s tourism site is written to attract visitors. The Palermo directory and the museum-guide site are tourism and culture pages of unknown authorship.
Questions a buyer would ask
Is a Palermo puppet the same as a Catania one? No. Wikipedia lists differences in height, weight, leg joints, sword and staging.
Can I tell a puppet’s age from its armour? Our sources do not say.
What we left out
We left out admission details, opening hours, living puppeteers and troupes, performance schedules and prices. We left out biographical detail about Pasqualino beyond his profession.
Quick answers
When was Sicilian puppet theatre recognised by UNESCO? Proclaimed in 2001 as a Masterpiece and entered on the Representative List in 2008, according to Wikipedia.
How big is a Sicilian puppet? Palermo puppets are about 90 cm and 5 to 10 kg; Catania puppets 110 to 130 cm and up to about 30 kg, according to Wikipedia.
What does the Pasqualino puppet museum hold? Over 5,000 pieces according to Italy’s tourism site; about 4,000 according to another guide.
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