On our last day in Palermo, our guide Anita took a small group of us to a silversmith shop where ex-votos among many other religious items continue to be made using traditional techniques.
One of the silversmiths working on the base of a silver chalice.
Mauro Gelardi, silversmith and son of the owner Benedetto Gerlardi, shows us how models are made. The example is a depiction of Santa Lucia, a Saint we have tracked throughout Sicily.
The original bronze place of Santa Lucia with its mold and a copy.
Mauro explains the restoration process they undertook to restore a massive and very valuable ex-voto from the Sanctuario di Santa Rosalia (on the top of Mount Pellegrino) of a ship commemorating the miraculous escape from drowning of a couple's son when the ship he was on sunk in the sea. The ship was so badly damaged, they thought it was iron. The restored ship is back on display in the Sanctuary where it was first presented.
The group posing with sister and brother Alessandra and Mauro. Each of us is holding a silver ex-voto.
One of the silversmiths working on the base of a silver chalice.
Mauro Gelardi, silversmith and son of the owner Benedetto Gerlardi, shows us how models are made. The example is a depiction of Santa Lucia, a Saint we have tracked throughout Sicily.
The original bronze place of Santa Lucia with its mold and a copy.
Mauro explains the restoration process they undertook to restore a massive and very valuable ex-voto from the Sanctuario di Santa Rosalia (on the top of Mount Pellegrino) of a ship commemorating the miraculous escape from drowning of a couple's son when the ship he was on sunk in the sea. The ship was so badly damaged, they thought it was iron. The restored ship is back on display in the Sanctuary where it was first presented.
The group posing with sister and brother Alessandra and Mauro. Each of us is holding a silver ex-voto.
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