Avanti Italia!
Irredentist lithograph from 1915 depicting an ethereal personification of Italy as she stands triumphantly over the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria-Hungary is represented by a beastly reptilian interpretation of Emperor Franz-Joseph, as he clutches a bloody dagger labeled “Galizia” (one of the former provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) in his left hand and a hangman’s noose in his right. In the grip of his many talons are the ethnically Italian provinces of Trento, Trieste and Zara, which where then under the rule of the dual monarchy. The scene is set against the backdrop of the Adriatic Sea.
Irredentism played a central role in dictating Italian foreign policy up to the conclusion of the Second World War. Caught amongst the great powers of Europe for centuries and only arising as a unified nation-state in the late 19th century, Italy saw many regions considered ethnically and historically part of its jurisdiction outside of its borders, under the thumb of foreign powers. Benito Mussolini capitalized on such irredentist and revanchist sentiments which ultimately aligned Rome’s foreign policy with Berlin’s.
Illustrated by Alberto Martini, considered one of Italy’s more bizarre futurists who was noted for his proto-surrealist works. He produced illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s stories alongside other literary works. Upon the outbreak of the First World War, Martini illustrated a series of 54 propaganda postcards aimed against the Central Powers titled Danza Macabra Europea. They were characterized their grotesque renditions of war, derisive ant-German satire and anti-war sentiment. Avanti Italia! was illustrated during the same period and printed by the same press from Treviso known as Longo.
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Irredentist lithograph from 1915 depicting an ethereal personification of Italy as she stands triumphantly over the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria-Hungary is represented by a beastly reptilian interpretation of Emperor Franz-Joseph, as he clutches a bloody dagger labeled “Galizia” (one of the former provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) in his left hand and a hangman’s noose in his right. In the grip of his many talons are the ethnically Italian provinces of Trento, Trieste and Zara, which where then under the rule of the dual monarchy. The scene is set against the backdrop of the Adriatic Sea.
Irredentism played a central role in dictating Italian foreign policy up to the conclusion of the Second World War. Caught amongst the great powers of Europe for centuries and only arising as a unified nation-state in the late 19th century, Italy saw many regions considered ethnically and historically part of its jurisdiction outside of its borders, under the thumb of foreign powers. Benito Mussolini capitalized on such irredentist and revanchist sentiments which ultimately aligned Rome’s foreign policy with Berlin’s.
Illustrated by Alberto Martini, considered one of Italy’s more bizarre futurists who was noted for his proto-surrealist works. He produced illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s stories alongside other literary works. Upon the outbreak of the First World War, Martini illustrated a series of 54 propaganda postcards aimed against the Central Powers titled Danza Macabra Europea. They were characterized their grotesque renditions of war, derisive ant-German satire and anti-war sentiment. Avanti Italia! was illustrated during the same period and printed by the same press from Treviso known as Longo.
