La processione dei Misteri

The separation

Work by Mario Ciotta - goldsmiths’guild

The Procession of “Misteri” in Trapani starts with this group, representing the moment when Jesus must part from Maria, his mother, and from the Apostle Giovanni. The statues have been realized by the author Mario Ciotta, and, by their faces, you note all the characters’ sadness and resignation and the awareness of their sad destiny. The group belongs to the goldsmiths’ guild, that it was committed to by a notarial act on April 6th, 1621. There are also several handmade silver articles that embellish the Sacred Group.

The washing of feet/h6>

Work by Mario Ciotta and reconstruction by Giuseppe Cafiero - fishermen’s guild

The second Sacred Group represents one of the humblest acts that Jesus may do, that is to say washing His “disciples’ feet. He is “Servant of His Servants”. Pietro tries to raise Jesus, knee ling in front of Him. The group in the procession is not the original, that was destroyed because of a quarrel between two guilds, that once quarrelled with each other about it. In 1704, after they made peace, Mario Ciotta was asked to rebuilt it and then it was definitely assigned to the fishermen’s guild. During the Second World War it was seriously damaged by the bombings and, therefore, it was restored by Giuseppe Cafiero.

Jesus in the garden of Jetsemani

Work by Baldassare Pisciotta - greengrocers’guild

The group represents the moment when Jesus is praying in the garden of olives and receives the visit of an Angel, that offers Him the bitter chalice of Passion. Behind Jesus there are the Apostles Pietro, Giacomo and Giovanni, that are sleeping serenely because of their tiredness. The Sacred Group, assigned to the greengrocers’ guild, is a work by Baldassarre Pisciotta and it was restored by Giuseppe Cafiero after the Second World War.

The arrest

Work by ignoto and reconstruction by Vito Lombardo - metalworkers’guild

This group shows the moment when Jesus is arrested by the guards. Judas has betrayed Him and the Via Crucis has started. The representation is very dramatic because, while a man is lighting up with a lantern, a guard is putting Jesus in chains and Pietro is cutting the ear to the servant Malchus. The work has been realized by Vito Lombardo and assigned to the metalworkers’ guild.

The falling to the kidron

Work by Francesco Nolfo - mariners’guild

The group was assigned to the mariners by a notarial act on April 6th, 1621 and it is a portray of Jesus’ falling on the river bed of the stream Kidron, while He was bringing to the Sanhedrim by the soldiers. The episode is not described in the official Gospels, but in a story by Santa Brigida. The group is embellished by rich, silver ornaments, proof of the jewellers’ big vitality in Trapani.

Jesus in front of Hanna

Work by ignoto and reconstruction by Domenico Li Muli - fruiterers’guild

It is a work by an unknown author and it shows the moment when Jesus is questioned by Hanna, while a guard is slapping Him with an iron glove. The group, assigned to the fruiterers’ guild, has been damaged during the Second World War and it has been reconstructed by the famous artist Domenico Li Muli.

The denial

Work by Baldassare Pisciotta - men’s and women’s hairdressers’guild

Jesus has arrived in the courtyard of the Sanhedrim and He is in chains as He was a dangerous murderer. A woman recognizes Pietro and she accuses him of being part of Jesus’ Disciples. Like the Master predicted, Pietro repudiated him three times, while a cock was singing. It is a bitter scene taken by the Gospel because on the one hand there is Jesus that is sorrowful about Pietro’ s behaviour and on the other hand there is the memory of him referring to Jesus’ prediction and that drives Him to a bitter weeping. The group is assigned to the men’s and women’s hairdressers’ guild.

Jesus in front of Herod

Work by Baldassare Pisciotta - fishmongers’guild

Baldassarre Pisciotta and it shows Jesus while He is questioning by Herod, but He prefers to not answer to his questions. He is accused of being the Son of God and declare himself the King of Judeans. The work was first assigned to the millers, brokers and cereal riddlers and it is under the sponsorship of the fishmongers.

The flagellation

Work by unknown author - masons’ and stone-cutters’guild

This is one of the groups whose author is unknown, but we know the name of the people that have restored it in the space of these years. The last intervention The last intervention goes back to 1998. This group is attended by the masons’ and stonecutters’ guild. It represents Jesus, that is barbarously whipped. The pillar to which He is gagged has been shown during a manifestation in the Lenten period that enjoys a tourist circuit whose aim is to make visible jewels of ancient workmanship, that are visible only during the procession on Good Friday.

The crowning of thorns

Work by Antonio Nolfo and reconstruction by Giuseppe Cafiero - bakers’guild

After the flagellation, Jesus is again an object of scorn from the Roman soldiers, that twisting a crown of thorns and they put it on His head. Furthermore, instead of a sceptre, they put a cane and a red mantle. This group was made by an unknown author and it was assigned to the bakers’ guild, that join the millers, an almost extinct category.

Ecce Homo

Work by unknown author - shoemakers’ and shoe manufacturers’ guild

The Sacred Group represents Christ’s figure, keeping in front of the enraged people with the words “Ecce Homo”, that mean “Ecco l’Uomo”. Pontius Pilate, in order to respect an ancient Jewish tradition, during the Easter period, used to allow people to choose which sentenced had to be bestowed. The incited crowd chose, as we know, the criminal Barabba. Pontius Pilate knew that Christ was innocent, but he left He was sentenced as well, and he washed his hands of it. The group is assigned to the shoemakers’ guild. The balcony in the middle of the statuary complex has been realized in 1852 and it is expression of the flourishing art of the goldsmiths in Trapani.

The sentence

Work by Domenico Nolfo - butchers’ guild

The group, assigned to the millersand butchers, shows the moment when Pontius Pilate washes his hands and gives Jesus to His executioners, after that the crowd shout His sentence loud. Jesus is kept in chains by a soldier, while a tribune keeps the board with the notice I.N.R.I.

The ascent to the ordeal

Work by unknown author - people’s guild

This group of an unknown author has a very tormenting representation, because there are the bearers, tired because of the weight, and Jesus harassed because of the weight of His Cross, while He was ascending to the ordeal. It is the only group that is not assigned to a workforce, but it is assigned to the people, quoting a passage of the Gospel “and He was followed by a big crowd of people and women”.

The undressing

Work by Domenico Nolfo - guild of clothes and textiles

After going up on Mount Calvary, Jesus, before His crucifixion, is undressed from His clothes, that fall down in tatters. The group was once assigned to the fruiterers’ guild, but the following notarial act gave it to the guild of clothes and textiles.

The raising of the cross

Work by unknown author and reconstruction by Domenico Li Muli - joiners’ and carpenters’ class

The Sacred Group sees Jesus’ representation, hold to the Cross and, la ter, raised by two Judaeans and a Roman soldier under the order of a tribune. Assigned to the joiners’ and carpenters’ guild by a notarial act in 1620, the work is by an unknown author, but it was reconstructed by Dome nico Li Muli after the bombing of the Second World War.

The wound at the chest

Work by Domenico Nolfo and reconstruction by Giuseppe Cafiero - painters’ and decorators’ guild

In this group Maria, Giovanni and Maria Maddalena are at the feet of the Cross while a soldier is running through Jesus’ tormented body by a further and useful gesture to verify His death. The group was realized by Domenico Nolfo with the reconstruction by Giuseppe Cafiero. Originally, it was assigned to the ropemakers’ and hemp workers’ guild, but they disappeared because of the economical crisis, that affected these two guilds during the postwar. Therefore, the group was assigned to the painters’ and decorators’ guild.

The deposition

Work by Antonio Nolfo and reconstruction by A. Fodale e L. Messina - tailors’ and paperhangers’ guild

The “Mistere” shows the representation of Jesus’ deposition from the Cross and wrap ped in a white sheet. The Group is assigned to the tailors’ and paperhangers’ guild and, during the years, it has been restored many times. The last intervention ended in 2004 and it brought the statues to the original colour.

The transport to the grave

Work by Giacomo Tartaglia and reconstruction by Giuseppe Cafiero - salters’ guild

The group is the representation of the transport of Jesus, died, to the grave. This is the largest group because the Virgin Mary, Magdalene, S. Giovanni, Giuseppe d’Arimatea and Nicodemo take Jesus to his last travel. The “mistere” is assigned to the salters’ guild, that replaced the coral cutters in 1790.

Jesus in the grave

Work by unknown author - pasta makers’ guild

The Sacred Group, even if it is not really a group, but a simulacre, was assigned to the pasta makers, and it shows an urn with Jesus without life inside. In the past the simulacre was assigned to the direction of the S. Michele’s Confraternity, but because of the high costs of management, it was given to the pasta makers.

Our Lady of sorrows

Work by Giuseppe Milanti - waiters’, confectioners’ and bartenders’ class

Our Lady of Sorrows’ simulacra closes the Procession of “Misteri” and it is the portray of the racking pain of all the mothers for the loss of a son. Unlike the other groups, it goes along the streets of the town under an elegantly decorated baldachin and it is assigned to the waiters’, drivers’ and confectioners’ direction.