Articles
Virgin of Marseille or santibelli, terracotta, of XIXth century.
The Virgin is in good condition. It no longer has its decorations. It is fixed to its base by a wire.
A report: restoration of the child's head, accidents and miss on his hands, wear of polychromy, see photos.
The "santibelli" statuettes are generally higher than forty inches. Molded clay, but also plâtr e, from Italy, they are painted in bright colors, sometimes sprinkled with glitter, or gold leaf. The name of these statues is difficult: here we talk a good nickname Marseilles who calls "santibelli" fool the service friendly and the fool not really smart. Here, we imagine that "santibelli" comes the cry of the Italian vendors, according to tradition, hawked these items: "Santi ... Belli ..." ; Like a cry from the street, which would have remained in a shortcut to describe these statuettes sold at auction.
