Notes
A procession is typically a physical forward movement through a section of the street, or a set of streets, in which a historical narrative is reenacted by participants in period clothing. The figure of Maria SS. Addolorata is a type of devotion to the Virgin Mary, often depicted holding a handkerchief, with droplets of tears running down her face, or with seven swords, representing seven sorrows, piercing her heart.
In the history of the understanding of time, the Christian idea of linear progress—a progression from suffering toward transcendence as embodied by this figure—established a narrative model for secular belief in linear progress. This narrative, employed by political and cultural systems, is a form of representation that, through a deliberate use of composition, rhythm, imagery, and triumphal marches, creates a sense of evolution and momentum, even if its form is designed to return to an established center.