Papier-mâché

PAPIER-MÂCHÉ. - Papier-mâché (not to be confused with "Roman cardboard" or "carton pierre" or "elo-plastica," which is a refinement of ordinary plaster casts by the incorporation of linens and a final soaking in boiled oil) is a plastic substance made of long-macerated paper and glue, which is modeled in molds or on light armatures while still damp; then dried and painted, it acquires an almost wood-like consistency while remaining very light. Since the Middle Ages, papier-mâché has also been used to model sacred images.

The Crucifix of the Servants of Mary in Bologna was molded at the end of the sixteenth century from the papers that flowed into the church after a moving sermon against gambling. The painter Menighella, having taken a mold from a most beautiful crucifix given to him by Michelangelo, made several examples of it in papier-mâché obtained by kneading cardboard with various mixtures. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, papier-mâché underwent great development in southern Italy and especially in Lecce, from whose workshops there still come in quantity, besides toys, sacred images. The Church, however, has always disapproved of papier-mâché as a material for sacred images, for which more noble materials are to be preferred.

Corrado Mezzana