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Guided Tour

Museo del Trasparente

Casa Croci, a jewel of 19th century architecture, houses the Mendrisio Transparencies Museum. This is the first exhibition space dedicated to an extraordinary artistic and historical heritage of the region, and a centuries-old tradition that has led the Confederation to nominate the historical processions of Holy Week as part of the world heritage of "living traditions".

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The transparencies which appeared around 1790, commissioned by a friar of the Servants of Mary from Mendrisio, named Antonio Maria Baroffio (1732-1798), were executed by a painter from Rovio called Giovanni Battista Bagutti (1742-1823). They are a unique example of Enlightenment culture grafted onto the Baroque tradition of ephemeral decoration, achieved with an exceptional technical modernity to great communicative effect. The new Casa Croci Museum offers visitors the chance to take a closer look at the precious objects, their particular manner of execution and to learn something more about the various types of this unique creative art form.

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There are night paintings that illuminate, decorate and mark the route through the old village of the Holy Thursday and Good Friday processions. For the people of Mendrisio, the transparencies are integral to a revered tradition that has remained practically unchanged over time. On the days of the processions, they attract tens of thousands of people from all over Ticino and further afield, all coming to experience the beauty and intensity of the settings and celebrations.

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The 26 objects, including street lanterns, scenes of the Passion of Christ, sails, pilasters, balconies, temples and the central scene with sides of one of the 10 large “doors” make up the ensemble that can be admired in the compact spaces of Casa Croci in what is an elegant and austere setting. Thanks to the slender structures and a carefully studied lighting system, each room acts as a kind of niche in which a transparency can be appreciated up close. The last large contemporary "transparency" commissioned by a private individual was made in 2000 by Silvano Gilardi for the Binaghi house in Piazza del Ponte.