In Ulderico Pinfildi’s workshop in Via San Biagio dei Librai, one will find the real art of Neapolitan Christmas cribs.
Ulderico grew up in a family of clay artisans, and he started to create Christmas crib figures at a very young age. For a real artist a piece of clay, a support and skilled hands are enough to create a character, that is, as he states, “like a son that brings with himself all his birthright”.
The classical 18th-century Neapolitan Christmas crib, set in the centre of Naples, must be appreciated in all its extremely realistic details. The clothes are made of valuable silk, in the style of the 18th century, and the characters have expressive faces and dramatic poses.
The real masterpiece is the “Seven works of mercy”, made with an extreme realism that recalls Caravaggio.