By the end of the 19th century, the number of statues carried in Good Friday processions in Malta consisted of the following eight episodes, built around the five sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary: The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, Jesus Carrying the Cross, Veronica, The Crucifixion, The Burial of Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows.

Throughout the previous two centuries, no real iconographical developments on these episodes took place except for a couple of cosmetic innovations by Carlo Darmanin (1825-1909) who, however, was responsible for the 1908 addition of a new statuary group/episode, The Betrayal by Judas, for the Qormi procession.

For the next half century, there were no new developments. However, in 1961, two developments brought about a complete evolution in the iconography of Holy Week processional statues, a process still in progress nowadays.

The first development was the addition of new episodes/statuary groups. As already stated above, it was Qormi that had increased the number of statues in 1908. Again, it was Qormi that took the lead in 1961 with the importation from Bari, Italy of two brand new episodes that had never featured in the local Holy Week processions: The Last Supper and Jesus Meets His Holy Mother on the Way to Calvary. The two statuary groups arrived by sea from Bari in March 1961, were immediately unpacked from their wooden cases and carried in procession on Good Friday, which happened to occur on March 31, 1961, exactly 60 years ago today.

The Last Supper is a massive statuary group comprising 13 statues - Jesus Christ and the 12 Apostles - at the moment when Christ, featured holding a chalice in his hand, was instituting the sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist. The facial features of Jesus are a copy of the figure in The Agony in the Garden statuary group, to ensure continuity. For the same reason, the facial features of St John the Evangelist are a copy of the figure featured in The Crucifixion statuary group. The chalice of gilded silver had once belonged to Rev. Benedict Axisa, a Qormi-born priest who passed away in 1946 but which was donated for this purpose by his heirs, Salvatore and Joseph Ebejer.

These two developments literally opened the floodgates for future developments

The necessary funds to finance this statue were collected by Salvatore Debono (ta’ Patata) and Joseph Agius (ta’ Bramel). Both men were well known at Qormi for their unstinted efforts to acquire funds for various parish projects over the years. The idea to include a statue featuring The Last Supper had been mooted by the organising committee and archpriest Rev. Gerard Frendo a couple of years previously and, for a time, the importation of a statue from Spain was on the cards. However, probably for financial reasons, the choice fell on Salvatore Bruno’s workshop at Bari.

Lecce-born Bruno (1893-1988) learned his craft from Achille De Lucrezi and Antonio Maccagnani and, up till 1933, shared a workshop with his respected brother, Giuseppe at Lecce. He then branched out on his own with his personal workshop at Bari where he worked and eventually passed away at the age of 95 years. Both statues were manufactured in papièr-mȃche but with porcelain heads and facial features.

This massive statue was manufactured according to particular specifications so that it could be carried shoulder-high through the church’s main door just like the other statues. It elicited great interest not only because it was massive but also because it posed the question of whether it was possible for just 12 bearers to carry it throughout the procession.

This brought about great crowds to Qormi and it can safely be said that the village had never witnessed the advent of such great crowds as on Good Friday 1961.

Many Qormi statue-bearers vied for the privilege to carry this statue and, in fact, each chosen bearer donated £5, which was a large amount in those days, equivalent to five days’ pay for a labourer. This statue remained unique in the Maltese islands till 1968 when a similar statue, but with a different format, was manufactured for Żebbuġ, Gozo.

Understandably, the statuary group of Jesus Meets His Holy Mother elicited less interest. The expenses were covered by the Qormi-born businessman Consiglio d’Amato, who was also one of its first bearers. It consisted of three figures: Jesus, Holy Mary and a Roman soldier. Unfortunately, indifferent workmanship and being unfortunately caught in a downpour during the 1971 procession necessitated its replacement – through the hand of Alfred Camilleri Cauchi – with the addition of a fourth statue, St John the Evangelist. Similar statues of this episode were later on introduced at Paola in 1976 and at Xagħra, Gozo, in 1987.

The second development was at Żejtun, where the Qormi procession was emulated by the introduction of a statuary group portraying The Betrayal by Judas, also manufactured in papièr-mȃche but at Lecce, Italy, in the workshop of Angelo Capoccia (1909-2000). Angelo, who learned his craft mainly from his father, Gabriele, a well-known and respected manufacturer of statues, was still working in 1988 when he opened his last workshop at Via F. Turati, in Lecce.

These two developments literally opened the floodgates for future developments, commencing immediately from 1962, which included the elaboration of existing statuary groups and episodes. It is enough to state that from a total of nine different episodes in 1908 leading to 10 in 1961, no fewer than 22 episodes are presently featured on the statuary groups. Naturally, some groups include more than one episode, a typical example being a group at Qormi that includes the three episodes of Veronica, Simon of Cyrene and the Pious Women of Jerusalem together with Christ.

But that is another story.

Dr Grima has written many articles about this subject and has authored Holy Week Processions at St George’s Parish, Qormi (Malta, 2003) and Il-Vari tal-Ġimgħa Mqaddsa fil-Gżejjer Maltin (Malta, 2012).