A museum dedicated to artistic papier-mâché is a tribute to an art form that, for centuries, has been a salient feature of the Salento territory. Starting from the eighteenth century, Lecce became one of the major centres for the processing of this material, with the development of a distinctive style compared to other regions of Italy. In the 19th century, the great masters of Lecce papier-mâché became famous throughout Italy and many of their works were also commissioned from abroad. Even today, the working of the statues with their stuffed skeletons, hands and heads in papier-mâché or terracotta, the paper modelled by red-hot irons, is a ritual to be admired in the streets of the historic centre. But papier-mâché is also a means of experimentation for the creation of contemporary works of art, as shown in the section dedicated to these artists. The collection is housed in the rooms of the Castle of Charles V, which has become a prestigious cultural container following careful consolidation and restoration work.
