The Deposition from Saint John Gospel (John 19,38-42) After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body. Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom. Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by.

Plate

Mary's aureole, dagger

The cross is bare, Mary and Mary Magdalene are broken-hearted by the pain. Jesus body has been put down and it lay in an attitude of deep pang with the head turned to the sky. Apostle John gazes at his motionless Master.
This Group was entrusted to tailors (ars sutorum) by notary Diego Martino Ximenes act on the 3rd April 1619. Afterwards to this Corporation were added the upholsterers.
The Gospel narrates that was Joseph of Arimathea the one who took care of Christ deposition. This scene is, in substance, result of the author imagination, we can consider it a passage between the preceding and the following Groups.
It seams almost sure that the author of this Group is Antonio Nolfo, but before recent study it was attributed to Giuseppe Milani.
The Group in procession today is not the original one which was almost totally destroyed by bombardment in 1943.

Antonio Fodale and Leopoldo Messina reconstructed it using many parts from the original work. So in 1951 “The Deposition” could come back among the Good Friday sacred Groups.
The Corporation, after half century, decided to restore again the Mystery with a careful work ended in 2004, this allowed the return of the original colour to each stature.

So in 2005, for the first time, this Mystery was shown to faithful without the black veil that smoke and time had shaded on the natural light of figures.
What is never changed during the time is the Group decoration. The aureoles were realized with great cleverness by Master silversmith Giuseppe Piazza in 1761.
The core of each aureole is constituted by an iron ring and on each side silver foils decorated in baroque style are attached. The halo is made by silver bars of different size which gave a dynamic effect to the decoration.

The nails used to fix the silver foils to the iron are also peculiar, their head has a flower shape, and are visible from every part of the circle.
Also on the Cross of this Group there is a silver plate with the inscription INRI (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum) which was restored in 2005 by Master goldsmith Platimiro Fiorenza.
The frame is embossed with baroque motives.