Rod Bantjes, “MNC-M01033_Mondo_Niovo_Domed.html,” created 5 March, 2026; last modified, 5 March, 2026 (https://people.stfx.ca/rbantjes/).
Mondo Niovo[xxx] Domed
Museo del Cinema Collection, Torino, Italy[*] #MNC-M01033
Italy, ca.1750-1950
Dimensions: H=102 cm, W=62.3 cm, D=89
Lens: ⌀=5.9 cm, ƒ=58.9 cm
 |
Figure MNC-M01033.1 – Mondo Niovo Domed |
| Photo © Ana Mendes. |
This is a Venetian-style multi-lens show-box for exhibiting pierced and illuminated vues d'optique. It is an example of an "optical machine" and is included in a genus "Mondo Niovo" in the Optical Machine Taxonomy.
The Mondo Niovo was the Italian version of the European Raree Show – a travelling spectacle popular in markets and fairs in the 18th century. Mondo Niovos always have three related features that are rarely seen together in the raree show:
| • a flytower above the central "stage" area; | |||
| • a front-section that fans out like the seating in a theatre toward a curved lens-array where the audience assembles to look inside; | |||
| • and a rear extension that has a flap and holds candles for back-illumination of the translucent images. |
The front-section's top-surface is downward-sloping and contains a top-flap for front illumination. The forward tilt helps to direct light back on to the front of the vue d'optique which falls like a back-drop on the stage.
For further discussion of the general features of these devices see the Mondo Niovo genus.
Endnotes:
[*] We would like to thank Raffaella Isoardi and Valentina Malvicino for making our research possible and assisting us in every way, as well as Antoine ... for assistance in the archives.
[xxx] The name means "new world" in Italian, perhaps because it introduced people to new worlds, including the distant Americas. The spelling with an "i" is Venetian and we use it (as opposed to Mondo nuovo or mondo novo) because this style seems to be uniquely Venetian.