#roberto innocenti

The adventures of Pinocchio (Le avventure di Pinocchio) by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti.

I simply love Innocenti’s style (I talked about his Nutcrackerhere). He has a rather architectural approach to illustration, with unusual points of view that immediately mark his illustrations as “adult”. He always makes sure that we notice the bricks emerging beneath the plaster that is cracking on the walls.

The original story of Pinocchio is (unsurprisingly) very different from Disney’s adaptation. Published in 1883, although it lacks any geographical information, by reading the book it is very clear that it is set in the tuscan countryside (there are several dialectal words and expressions, and the characters are farmers, artisans, there are fields and trails among the hills and millstones to press olives).

Innocenti’s illustrations take us back directly to the poor tuscan villages of the late 19th century.

(all images via @enchantedbook)