Habitus Fidei: The Robes of the Confraternities: A Journey Through Art, History, and Faith

The final leg of the travelling exhibition, "Habitus Fidei: The Robes of the Confraternities: A Journey Through Art, History, and Faith", will arrive in Lugano. The inauguration will be held on Friday, 7 November, and the exhibition will be open to the public from 8 November to 23 November 2025, at Villa Ciani. Curated by Professor Lorenzo Cantoni (USI) and Professor Alessandro Tosi (University of Pisa), it will explore the world of confraternities through clothing, works of art, and a unique interactive avatar. After its stops in Pisa and Lucca, the exhibition concludes its journey through art, history, and devotion in Ticino.

The event offers a fascinating journey through the history of confraternities, with a particular focus on confraternity clothing and figurative documents that bear witness to their significance and practices. Alongside the garments, paintings, books, prints, perfumes and videos are also presented to help visitors understand this world.

The exhibition itinerary has wound its way through three cities and four venues, adapting the content to the specific characteristics of each location. The first stop was in Pisa, from 9 May to 20 June 2025, where it was hosted at Museo della Grafica in Palazzo Lanfranchi (belonging to the University and Municipality of Pisa) and at Museo Nazionale di San Matteo. In September-October 2025, the exhibition then moved to Lucca, inside the Church and Baptistery of Santi Giovanni e Reparata, with a specific focus on the confraternities of Lucca. The final stop will be Lugano, from 7 to 23 November 2025, where the exhibition will be set up at Villa Ciani and focus on the clothing of the Ticino confraternities and their essential role in the religious and social history of the area.

Confraternities originated as lay associations as early as the 7th century and have continued to thrive from the Middle Ages to the present day. Today, there are over 30,000 confraternities active in Europe, with approximately six million members. Their primary purpose is to promote the religious life of their members—both brothers and sisters—through practices such as penance, acts of mercy, and public worship. The latter is expressed in particular through processions: these are often ancient traditions, but still very much alive, in which numerous faithful, curious onlookers and tourists participate. UNESCO has listed some of these processions as intangible cultural heritage, for example, the Holy Week processions in Mendrisio, or the network of Italian processions involving large structures carried on the shoulders, also known as "grandi macchine a spalla" (great shoulder-borne machines).

The confraternity's robe is reminiscent of the baptismal garment, with which a person adheres to the faith and wants to become like Christ: hence the title of the exhibition – Habitus Fidei – which in Latin indicates both the garments of faith and the virtue of faith. The garment – also known as a sack – is usually very simple: it is an overgarment worn by members when carrying out the activities of the confraternity. A hood, a belt, a cloak and a medallion usually complement it. The outfit may also include a hat, gloves, shoes, a staff and other garments and accessories. The colours often symbolically indicate the nature of the confraternity and its possible connection to a religious order.

The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to see the robes of the Ticino confraternities and to reflect on the theme of clothing and its meaning in Christian tradition. Visitors will also have the opportunity to talk – in Italian, French, German or English – with the avatar of a brother who is an expert in history and confraternity robes, reconstructed using generative artificial intelligence.

The exhibition is curated by USI Professor Lorenzo Cantoni and Professor Alessandro Tosi of the University of Pisa. L. Cantoni is director of the UNESCO Chair at USI, the Master's in International Tourism and the Master's in Digital Fashion Communication (double degree with the Sorbonne in Paris); A. Tosi is an art historian, scientific director of the Museum of Graphics at the University of Pisa and vice-president of the University's Museum System.

The Lugano edition is co-curated by Dr Davide Adamoli, scientific collaborator at the Historical Archives of the Diocese of Lugano and author of a doctoral thesis on Ticino confraternities, carried out at the University of Fribourg.

The exhibition will open on 7 November and will be open from 8 to 23 November:

• to the public every day, including Saturdays and Sundays, from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
• for schools, with guided tours by booking on the website:
  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.
  • Wednesday, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.
  • Tuesday guided tours are in German and English, on other days in Italian.

The exhibition will be closed on 20 November.

For more information, please visit the dedicated website: https://habitusfidei.art/