University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2013 The Power of Images in the Age of Mussolini Valentina Follo University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the History Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Follo, Valentina, "The Power of Images in the Age of Mussolini" (2013). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 858. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/858 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/858 For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Power of Images in the Age of Mussolini Abstract The year 1937 marked the bimillenary of the birth of Augustus. With characteristic pomp and vigor, Benito Mussolini undertook numerous initiatives keyed to the occasion, including the opening of the Mostra Augustea della Romanità , the restoration of the Ara Pacis , and the reconstruction of Piazza Augusto Imperatore. New excavation campaigns were inaugurated at Augustan sites throughout the peninsula, while the state issued a series of commemorative stamps and medallions focused on ancient Rome. In the same year, Mussolini inaugurated an impressive square named Forum Imperii, situated within the Foro Mussolini - known today as the Foro Italico, in celebration of the first anniversary of his Ethiopian conquest. The Forum Imperii's decorative program included large-scale black and white figural mosaics flanked by rows of marble blocks; each of these featured inscriptions boasting about key events in the regime's history. This work examines the iconography of the Forum Imperii's mosaic decorative program and situates these visual statements into a broader discourse that encompasses the panorama of images that circulated in abundance throughout Italy and its colonies. Therein I highlight the Roman, particularly Augustan, models that Mussolini consciously exploited to depict himself as the founder of a new empire. Of special interest are instances of analogy to the figurative references displayed on state-issued postcards, medals, and stamps. This study of quotidian - often ephemeral - objects, fundamental in any archeological analysis, underscores not only the scope of the iconography and its audiences, but also the extent to which the minor arts, along with state architecture, functioned as integral components of a multi-faceted system of propaganda. I demonstrate how the Forum Imperii operated effectively in the aggregate of Fascist propaganda by exploiting the images already present in the collective memory of Rome, a memory established through Mussolini's observance of the Augustan model of ritual, policy, public display, colonization, and his belief in personal destiny. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Art & Archaeology of Mediterranean World First Advisor Charles B. Rose Keywords Augustus, Fascism, Foro Italico, mosaic, Mussolini, stamps Subject Categories History | History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/858 THE POWER OF IMAGES IN THE AGE OF MUSSOLINI Valentina Follo A DISSERTATION in Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Supervisor of Dissertation ___________ ______ Charles Brian Rose James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology Graduate Group Chairperson ______ ___________ Charles Brian Rose, James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology Dissertation Committee Joseph Farrell, Professor of Classical Studies Ann Blair Brownlee, Adjunct Assistant Professor of the History of Art Renato Moro, Professor of Contemporary History, Università degli Studi Roma Tre THE POWER OF IMAGES IN THE AGE OF MUSSOLINI COPYRIGHT 2013 Valentina Follo This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ny-sa/2.0/ In loving memory of my grandparents, babbo Luigi and nonna Velia and to my children, Marco and Liam iii ABSTRACT THE POWER OF IMAGES IN THE AGE OF MUSSOLINI Valentina Follo Charles Brian Rose The year 1937 marked the bimillenary of the birth of Augustus. With characteristic pomp and vigor, Benito Mussolini undertook numerous initiatives keyed to the occasion, including the opening of the Mostra Augustea della Romanità, the restoration of the Ara Pacis , and the reconstruction of Piazza Augusto Imperatore. New excavation campaigns were inaugurated at Augustan sites throughout the peninsula, while the state issued a series of commemorative stamps and medallions focused on ancient Rome. In the same year, Mussolini inaugurated an impressive square named Forum Imperii, situated within the Foro Mussolini – known today as the Foro Italico, in celebration of the first anniversary of his Ethiopian conquest. The Forum Imperii’s decorative program included large-scale black and white figural mosaics flanked by rows of marble blocks; each of these featured inscriptions boasting about key events in the regime’s history. This work examines the iconography of the Forum Imperii’s mosaic decorative program and situates these visual statements into a broader discourse that encompasses the panorama of images that circulated in abundance throughout Italy and its colonies. Therein I highlight the Roman, particularly iv Augustan, models that Mussolini consciously exploited to depict himself as the founder of a new empire. Of special interest are instances of analogy to the figurative references displayed on state-issued postcards, medals, and stamps. This study of quotidian – often ephemeral – objects, fundamental in any archeological analysis, underscores not only the scope of the iconography and its audiences, but also the extent to which the minor arts, along with state architecture, functioned as integral components of a multi-faceted system of propaganda. I demonstrate how the Forum Imperii operated effectively in the aggregate of Fascist propaganda by exploiting the images already present in the collective memory of Rome, a memory established through Mussolini’s observance of the Augustan model of ritual, policy, public display, colonization, and his belief in personal destiny. v Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................iv PREFACE ...............................................................................................................vii CHAPTER 1............................................................................................................. 1 Fascist Romanitas and the Augustan Bimillenary ..................................... 1 a. Rome and Romanitas........................................................................................... 1 b. The Augustan Exhibition and the inauguration of Augustan sites ....... 20 c. The Istituto di Studi Romani and the fostering of Augustan studies... 50 CHAPTER 2 .......................................................................................................... 55 Fascist Propaganda and the Role of Stamps, Coins and Medals. ......... 55 a.Fascist propaganda ................................................................................................. 55 b. The first fascist coin and the serie imperiale................................................. 60 d. Stamps .................................................................................................................... 69 e. Medals..................................................................................................................... 84 CHAPTER 3 .......................................................................................................... 88 The Foro Mussolini............................................................................................ 88 a. Renato Ricci and the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB).............................. 88 f. The Foro Mussolini.............................................................................................. 95 CHAPTER 4 .........................................................................................................123 The Mosaics.........................................................................................................123 a. Decoration as mass communication............................................................... 124 b. The Piazzale Project............................................................................................. 127 c. The marble blocks: Mussolini’ s appropriation of time and Italy’s damnatio memoriae ................................................................................................ 131 d. The themes of the mosaics (for the numbering see my plan).................. 138 e. The demi-god dictator ......................................................................................... 154 f. The youthful princeps .......................................................................................... 158 g. Mussolini’s Res Gestae........................................................................................ 160 h. The school of Spilimbergo ...............................................................................