Rod Bantjes, “MNC-M01035_Mondo_Niovo_Shoulder_Straps.html,” created 31 January, 2026; last modified, 31 January, 2026 (https://people.stfx.ca/rbantjes/).
Mondo Niovo – Shoulder Straps
Museo Nazionale del Cinema Collection, Torino, Italy[*] #MNC-M01035
Country Year
Dimensions: H=54.5 cm, W=72.8 cm, D=92.7
Lens: ⌀=6 cm, ƒ [missing lenses]
The Mondo Niovo in General
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Figure M01035.1 –Mondo Niovo with Shoulder Straps |
| Photo © Ana Mendes. |
 |
Figure M01035_2 – Inside the Auditorium |
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.
Description of this Box
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Figure M01035.1 –Mondo Niovo with Shoulder Straps |
| Photo © Ana Mendes. |
Figure M01035_2 – Inside the Auditorium |
Photo © Ana Mendes. |
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.