The race itself famously only lasts about 90 seconds, the pagentry and false-starts beforehand take the proceedings up to about 3 hours in the baking heat.
That is not to take away from the dangerousness of the race though. The corner you see to the left of the image (La Curva di San Martino) is a 90 degree turn! Imagine that in the grand national! The jockeys are riding without saddles either. Sensibly they have padding on the following wall but still, it's no joke.
This image feels like a pinting to me. The modernatiy of the crowd is lost in the detail, so the overall impression feels like it could've taken place in the 18th century.
