The National Archive in Varallo holds a contract dated 27 April 1599, in which the Flemish sculptor Jan de Wespin (known as Tabacchetti) accepts the commission to create the statues for chapel 36, the chapel of the Ascent to Mount Calvary. The contract asks Tabacchetti to ‘copy’ the physical features of the statues already in place in the Crucifixion.
The Fabbrica, the institution that managed the work on the Sacro Monte, wanted the pilgrim to find the same characters in all the chapels. As in a TV series, the same actors meet again in the following episodes. From chapel 23 (the Capture of Jesus) to chapel 38 (the Crucifixion), the same crowd appears over and over making the experience of walking up Mount Calvary authentic and credible.