Postcard from Palermo, Sicily: Marionettes and mummies

Above: Museo Antonio Pasqualino Internazionale delle Marionette

Opera dei Pupi, a traditional form of Sicilian puppet theater originally focused on tales of the Crusades and French knights, was on the verge of disappearing when it attracted the interest of surgeon Antonio Pasqualino. He set about collecting everything he could related to the art and sparked the interest of others with the 1965 founding of the Association for the Conservation of Folk Traditions. A decade later, the association established the International Puppet Museum, naming it in memory of Pasqualino following his 1995 death.

The collection has become international in scope and is far from stagnant. The museum fosters cultural exchanges by hosting an international festival annually, nurturing contemporary artists and staging performances for all ages. We were surprised to witness a group of 11- and 12-year-olds howling at every punchline delivered in a dated traditional show.

Moving merrily along to the morbid…. Mummies hanging in the Capuchin Catacombs were still on my mind when we visited the Puppet Museum, and the motionless marionettes appeared hauntingly similar.

Beginning in 1783, Palermo’s Capuchin friars opened their crypts to anyone who could afford to pay for their mummification process. Over the next century, corridor after corridor was added to extend the underground network of tunnels.

The website explains the popularity of the destination for the dead:

In addition to the desire to preserve the body at all costs even after death, there was also the possibility for the families of the deceased not only to mourn the grave of their loved one but also to see him, to talk to him, to ‘visit’ him as if he were still part of the world of the living.

The recipe for mummification followed by the monks?

After passing, the Friars brought the bodies of the deceased to the “colatoio”, where the internal organs were removed. In their place, straw or bay leaves were added, in order to promote the dehydration process. For almost a year, the bodies remained closed in these underground environments… slowly losing the water present in the tissues and drying out. The bodies… were finally dressed in their best dress and placed in the niche that had been reserved for them.

You are spared images of more of these dried residents because photos are not allowed. And apologies for making this connection that might flavor your feelings while viewing the impressive collection of marionettes in the museum.