Heritage Malta is organising an exhibition about rituals, customs and pageantry related to the commemoration of Christ’s passion and resurrection. These rituals constitute one of the most important religious traditions. It is the most intense period in the liturgical calendar starting with Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, culminates in Holy Week and the Easter celebrations and comes to an end 50 days later, with Pentecost. During this period, the most dramatic moments of the Biblical narrative are brought to the streets and commemorated in the churches. Viewers and participants are induced to identify emotionally with the sufferings of Christ and rejoice as a community on the glorious day of his resurrection.

In Malta, as in other European Roman Catholic countries, the cult was promoted by confraternities, which sought to regularise devotional practices among the faithful during the Counter Reformation. Many features of the island’s present-day Lent and Easter traditions, including Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter processions, can in fact be traced to the 17th and 18th centuries, and are a blend of Spanish and southern Italian influences.

Much like today, these processions in early modern Malta were dramatic events. They included sets of life-size statues which were paraded along the streets, accompanied by members of the confraternities and by members of the public. Throughout the years, particularly in the late nineteenth century, Biblical characters were included and the standard set of statues was increased from eight to 12 a century later. More recently pageants and displays have been introduced that add to the corpus of events and devotions associated with this time of the year.

The exhibition, links traditions to recent developments in the religious and secular rituals that commemorate Christ’s passion and resurrection. It explores the rich socio-cultural and artistic legacy connected to this time of year. The highlights on display include an artistic church model set up for the Holy Week, life-size and miniature sculptures, paintings, objets d’art and other equipment used in the traditional Good Friday procession.

The exhibition, which forms part of the permanent display at the Inquisitor’s Palace in Vittoriosa is open daily from 9am to 5pm with the last admission at 4.30pm. The Inquisitor’s Palace is closed on Good Friday. However on Maundy Thursday (20 March) the exhibition is open till 10pm with the last admission at 9.30pm. Normal tariffs apply.

Adults (18-59 years) pay w4.66 (Lm2), students (12-17 years), senior citizens (60 years and over) pay w2.33 (Lm1) while children (6-11 years) pay w1.16 (Lm0.50).