504 edward muir
lexical unit of the Venetian ritual vocabulary was the ducal procession.
A civic procession typically consisted of a parade of officials and symbols,
including the ducal trionfi. position in the procession meant everything
for the officials, with those walking closest to the doge in the middle of
the line garnering the most prestige, a ceremonial positioning that rep-
resented the constitutional hierarchy of the republic. The trionfi—the
banners, musical instruments, candle, cushion, faldstool, umbrella, and
sword—signified the doge’s authority and the principles of the myth of
Venice: the city’s devotion to the roman church, the doge’s exalted rank
as an equal to popes and emperors, St Mark’s patronage of Venice, and
the republic’s commitment to justice.50 Attached to the ducal procession
as it progressed around piazza San Marco were sometimes other groups
such as foreign ambassadors, members of the Scuole grande confraterni-
ties, or pilgrims. By the end of the 16th century there were 16 obligatory
annual processions, a significant increase from Sanudo’s time. of these,
corpus christi created the opportunity for the most elaborate displays
of allegorical floats, which often commented on contemporary events. in
addition to the annual processions there were numerous special obser-
vances occasioned by significant events: receptions for foreign emissar-
ies or princes; celebrations of victories, peace treaties, or liberation from
a plague or famine; and public recognition of a moment of spiritual or
ecclesiastical significance.51
The ducal processions were not just models of an idealized Venice but
also became mirrors of the current mood of the city. The annual corpus
christi procession of 1509 held just three weeks after the Venetian defeat
at Agnadello was especially tense.
it was the feast of corpus christi, on which there is a solemn procession in
San Marco, and so it was done. But first the heads of the Ten ordered that
there should be no ladies on the balconies of the piazza, nor should any chil-
dren or women be allowed inside the piazza. instead, there were about one
thousand men armed with swords and shields and breastplates under their
cloaks, and twenty of these, under the [command of the] six deputies and
the captains, were posted at the corners of the piazza, where the entrances
are, to watch those entering the piazza. And this was started at an early
hour. The scuole processed, and the friars.. .; then the priests and canons
without silver objects, but well vested, although not sumptuously; then came
the body of christ under its canopy and the patriarch wearing vestments...50 Muir, Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice, p. 205.
51 Muir, Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice, pp. 212–50.