Two marvelous sculptures in Mount Hope Cemetary were carved by
Nicola Cantalamessa-Papotti (1833-1910) He hasd a long distinguished
career with statues carved for Pope Pius IX. Papotti showed a lifesize work,
Love's Mirror, at the Philadelphis Exposition in 1878. This work is now in the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester.
Papotti received many private and public commissions for both religious and secular works in Europe and the United States. This statue is depicts "The Weary Pilgrim" dated 1882. It depicts a pilgrim in the Crusades, with his symbolic scallop shell on his cloak, resting on his journey to the Holy Land.
Aaron Erickson, owner of the family monument, was a wealthy wool merchant.