Victorio and Lucchino have been official dressers of the Virgen de los Desamparados de Sevilla and have collaborated with the also Sevillian San Esteban de Sevilla, they have designed the muñidor costume of the Brotherhood of Charity of AlmerÃa and the attire of the wife of Poncio Pilates in the Brotherhood of the Judgment of Huelva. This Palm Sunday, José Luis was awarded the gold medal as brother of the Virgen de las Aguas. The couple of designers know Holy Week from a very different point of view from that of the vast majority of devotees and, furthermore, they experience it from its most festive side.
This is how José VÃctor explains himself: “In Seville these days the smell of spring cannot be endured, it is an indescribable dream: the fragrance of orange blossom that floods the streets, the character of its people, who revives after the winter lethargy and opens up to wonderful sensations, to love, joy and the beauty of living with a smile on your lipsâ€.
Faith comes from very old: “I have sucked it; Let me tell you that my great-grandfather paid for a nunnery in Palma del RÃo… We are devotees of several brotherhoods, mainly the Gran Poder, the Macarena and the Virgen de las Aguas, but I like Holy Week in general. To understand what it feels like, you have to come here. How would you describe the April Fair? You can’t until you know it. Well, the same thing: and Holy Week is not just crying and pain, as in Castilla, people are happy, the bars are full, there is not a hotel room â€.
José VÃctor explains that the beauty of the steps and the atmosphere captivates the non-believer in the same way: “It is the greatest spectacle in the world on the street. And free”. Victorio and Lucchino, an institution in the Andalusian capital, are invited to many of the best balconies for a good view of the processions and they go from one to the other. “People treat you, you know, ham, loin and all those things. We live it with joy, because life already has many sorrowsâ€.
Even the tears of emotion that we see in people who spend hours standing to contemplate their Christ or their Virgin, are carried away by aesthetics. “You have to visit a museum to see the work of artists like MartÃnez Montañés, Juan de Mesa, Cristóbal Ramos… And here they are in the street, with sound, smell and joy. Everyone likes to experience something like this.
