During the 19th century, the Maltese Good Friday statuary groups developed into sets of eight components based on the five sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary to which were added Veronica, Christ in the Tomb (known locally as Il-Monument), and Our Lady of Sorrows.

In 1909, the Qormi procession was enhanced with the addition of a statue portraying The Betrayal by Judas which was emulated by a number of other localities after 1961. Moreover, there was also the addition of other episodes from the Passion of Christ. This meant that, after the statuary groups of The Agony in the Garden or The Betrayal, the next statue was always a representation of The Scourging at the Pillar.

Therefore, there was a big lacuna in the statues depicting the Passion of Christ: the processional statues did not refer to what took place during the night, at the Jewish Sanhedrin, when Christ was declared to be a blasphemer when he said that he was the Son of God, when the High Priest Caiaphas rent his clothes as was the custom and it was agreed that Christ deserved the death penalty.

These facts, which occurred during the night after Christ’s arrest, make up a fundamental episode that was never present within the local Holy Week processional statues. The Nadur procession includes a statuary group portraying The Denial of St Peter, but this is a relatively minor episode when compared to the condemnation of Christ by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.

This new statuary group is a donation by the Grima siblings

This is why permission was sought from the ecclesiastical authorities for the addition to the Qormi procession of a new statuary group portraying Christ Condemned by the Sanhedrin. This request was accompanied by a bozzetto (and photographs) prepared by sculptor Aaron Camilleri Cauchi, who was also commissioned to fashion the statues in papier-mâché. The desired permission was granted and Archpriest Rev. Canon Mario Mangion announced it on Maundy Thursday 2019.

The new group consists of three figures: the centrally-placed Jesus standing up and humbly accepting the condemnation; on his right is Caiaphas rising from his seat and rending his clothes as was the custom; and on the other side is the former high priest Annas. The latter two figures represent the Sanhedrin.

This new statuary group is a donation by the Grima siblings – Mary Mallia, Joseph, Julia Juul Nielsen, John and Christopher – who also donated the wooden predella and platform together with the paraphernalia needed to carry the statue in procession.

Qormi-born George Debono and his son Silvio manufactured and varnished the platform gratis, except for the cost of the materials involved, while Anthony Zammit manufactured the halo. Joseph Xuereb and his sons Natalino and George manufactured the high priest’s throne and wooden steps for free. Silvio Pace designed the emblematic Menorah free of charge, while George Mangion carried out the wooden sculptural works connected with the platform. All hail from Qormi.

The platform’s bronze decorative items were manufactured by Christopher Chetcuti from the Luqa-based Chetcuti Foundry.

This year, Camilleri Cauchi also carried out restoration work on the Ecce Homo statue (that also includes Caiaphas) that had been manufactured by his father Alfred in 1982. Changes have been affected to the colours of the garb worn by Caiaphas in accordance to what is written in Exodus XXXIX – gold, violet and scarlet twice dyed – which are also present in the new statue.