#24 The blossoming Easter in Sicily

Summer

The magic of Easter in Sicily comes from the traditions all Sicilians adhere to with great love, passion and dedication. Easter is an even bigger celebration than Christmas all over Italy, representing the promise of a new beginning.

The festivities start with the intricately woven palm fronds blessed for Palm Sunday. The week reaches a dramatic climax with passionate performances.

It ends with the consumption of delicate marzipan sculptured lambs or picureddi, loaves of bread or biscuits decorated with dyed eggs, many traditional dishes and endless desserts in the usual abundance of Sicily's table, which is always associated with religious festivities.

In each of Sicily's Easter celebrations, many reoccurring symbols repeat themselves in every town in an intriguing mixture of theatre and tradition. At the centre of many religious processions are the Misteri, statues which depict the passion of Christ and the symbolic elements also associated with the story. Side by side with the artworks, there are objects like spears, hammers and a crown of thorns in an extended religious metaphor, like an elaborate Mystery play from the Middle Ages filled with religious allegory.

The crucifix is very much at the centre of the Easter story for obvious reasons, as a physical representation of the death of Jesus. Many places on the island have elaborate, life-sized crucifixes which allow the figure of Jesus Christ to be physically taken off the cross to be placed inside a transparent glass coffin. In Sicily, there is an underlying need for tangible images and props in retelling the passion, which gives the feast days of Easter a particular emotional intensity. 

One of the most recognisable characters in the theatre of a Sicilian Easter are the hooded masked members of the confraternities, who carry the heavy historical statues and crucifixes in their religious tunics and represent the faithful community dedicated to maintaining these celebrations.

The sinister-looking masked Incappuciati are the central characters of Enna's Easter celebration, which dates back to the Spanish period in Sicily from the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. The male-only members of the fifteen local confraternities participate in a well-organised rite of solemn processions, prayers and worship in the local Cathedral. This manifestation, together with similar celebrations in the provinces of Caltanissetta and Enna, is at Sicily's geographical and traditional heart. 

The symbolism of Easter in Sicily is a mixture of medieval, orthodox, greek and pre-Christian elements. Many celebrations pay homage to ancient beliefs in the supernatural, devils and pagan nature spirits; others are pure mythology saluting the ancient greek gods of the seasons.

Intertwined with the performances is the aural element, with a strong focus on certain religious-based songs and prayers. The laments or lamentanze are suggestive ancient elegies recited during the arrangements in a mixture of Latin and local dialects.

Many towns will unveil old canvases which depict the passion and crucifixion as a part of the Easter festivities. In a genuinely iconic gesture reflecting a medieval focus on a visual depiction of the bible, the Velatio or tele della passione are unfurled to show the central protagonist of the story physically.  

As with most things in Sicily, Easter is not simply a religious celebration but is also tinged with pagan elements. The Diavolata at Adrano, the Ballo dei diavoli at Prizzi and the Judei of San Fratello all feature mischievous, rowdy masked men and devilish characters, each with their different costumes. 

Adrano's Diavolata in the province of Catania consists of the performance of an ancient religious play written in 1728 by a local religious brother and acts out the eternal battle between good and evil. The focus is the struggle between several different devils and St Michael the Archangel, who not only manages to defeat them after the resurrection but also gets the devils to praise the Madonna and God.

At the apex of this collection of grotesque characters in Sicily's Santa Pasqua is the Giudei from the hilltop town of San Fratello, deep in the province of Messina. These flocks of hooded, brightly dressed men take over the village and disturb the solemn funeral procession of Good Friday afternoon.

The Giudei are a part of Sicily's history, in all their colour, practical jokes and loud trumpet playing. The costumes are handed down from father to son in the bright red of a pseudo-military style, complete with elaborate helmets, colourful yellow stripes, lapels and intricate beading; they are living, breathing works of art.

At Leonforte, deep in central Sicily, the local Baroque Granfonte water fountain is central to the local civic and cultural history. Today the 24 Cannola, as it is known locally, becomes the stage for a much more subtle religious performance.

Constructed on the ruins of an earlier Arab fountain known as the Fonte di Tavi, the font was built in 1652. The impressive public water source was designed by prominent Palermo architect and painter Marino Smiriglio, whose works are dotted around the island and include Palermo's central Quattro Canti at the intersection that connects the four prominent neighbourhoods of the Sicilian capital. 

The Granfonte comprises a succession of twenty-two archways and twenty-four bronze spouts that gush water out into a series of sandstone basins once used as a public washhouse. 

On Good Friday, the Granfonte of Leonforte is accompanied by a large bonfire in the surrounding square and the waters are silenced as a sign of mourning and respect for the solemn funeral rite. This simple act of respect reflects Sicily's deep connection to its Roman Catholic roots.

There was a time in Sicily when even cowherds silenced their animal bells out of respect for the rites of Venerdi Santo. And so when the Granfonte's waters are reopened on Easter morning to restore their healing qualities and the baptismal promise of new life, these ancient practices are also renewed.