Neapolitan tradition
Products made entirely by hand using the techniques of Neapolitan craftsmanship.
Attention to detail favors a very realistic result.
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Real size:
Cm 3x3x7h
Cm 4.5x4.5x10h
Material: Neapolitan terracotta
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Who is O Munaciell?
"O Munaciello" (or monacoello), which in Neapolitan literally means little monk, is one of the most famous and characteristic esoteric figures of the Neapolitan tradition. It is a legendary sprite from the folklore of the city in the shadow of Vesuvius, represented as a deformed boy or a person of short stature, a sort of gnome, dressed in a habit and with silver buckles on his shoes.
Even today one wonders if this figure was invented by folk tales or if, on the other hand, it really exists. His manifestations would be numerous: of sympathy, when he leaves coins and money hidden inside the houses, or makes little jokes that turn into numbers to play the Lotto; of appreciation, when he touches beautiful women, or of spite, when he hides and breaks objects or blows into the ears of those who sleep.
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Beliefs related to Munaciello
The Munaciello manifests himself to the inhabitants of the house with gestures that express sympathy or antipathy depending on the case. It is no coincidence that an ancient proverb reads: "O Munaciello: to those who enrich and to those who appreciate". According to Neapolitan folklore, however, its presence must never be revealed if one does not want to attract bad luck upon oneself. You can propitiate him by leaving something to eat for him, which can then transform the food into gold, but you cannot then spread the news of the magic around, otherwise he will disappear in a flash. It is said that many have suddenly made a fortune thanks to his intervention, so much so that when someone has had a sudden enrichment, they say "Perhaps he will have the munaciello in the house".
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Ancient history
The legend of Munciello has very ancient origins. According to some, this strange character really existed from 1445 during the reign of Alfonso V of Aragon. At the time, the love story between Caterina Frezza, daughter of a rich cloth merchant, and Stefano Mariconda, a simple and poor boy, held court in Naples. The couple met secretly during the night, so as not to be discovered by the girl's family. The young man reached her house along a dangerous path on the roofs of Naples. One evening, however, he was thrown into the void and died.
Caterinella was immediately locked up in a convent, where she gave birth to her child, the result of that clandestine relationship. However, the baby was born deformed and her mother began to dress him in a habit with a hood, like the one worn by Dominican friars. He was mocked in the streets of the Porto district and everyone began to call him "lu munaciello". He then died mysteriously, although shortly after dwarf bones were found in a sewer and many advanced the hypothesis that he could have been killed by the Frezzas. The Neapolitan people, however, continued to see him on the streets of the city and to attribute the unfavorable events that occurred to his thirst for revenge.
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The tradition of the pozzari of Underground Naples
According to another legend, the munacielli would be none other than the so-called pozzari, a class of freelancers who dealt with the management of water cavities and who for this reason knew how to juggle one tunnel and another, a typical structure of underground Naples, covered by a helmet and a work cloak resembling a priest's habit.
Often, to get back from the subsoil, they arrived in the houses of the historic center, where they took the opportunity to have a snack, to steal some valuable object and to win over the women of the hearth. The people, who began to hide to discover the mystery, saw these squat figures with physiognomies similar to that of the Franciscan friars entering their homes. For this they began to call them "munacielli".
