DeptName
Art

IDNO
IWM ART LD 5975

ProductionDate
1933

ProductionPeriod
Interwar

ItemName
Profilo Continuo (Testa di Mussolini) [Continuous Profile (Head of Mussolini)]

ObjectType
sculpture

IndexPeople
Mussolini, Benito

IndexConcepts
portrait / personification
politicians

IndexHistPeriod
Interwar

FullSummary
Mussolini, known as Il Duce, set up the Italian Fascist Party after the First World War. He became Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and its dictator from 1925 until he was killed in 1945. ‘Profilo Continuo’ was made in 1933, or Year Eleven of the new era, dating from Mussolini’s march on Rome in 1922 (an inscription on the base reads 'Bertelli R. A XI') . At least two other terracotta copies of the head exist but it is not known how many were made. This version was originally owned in the 1930’s by Count Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini’s son-in-law. The Museum also owns two smaller versions.
In line with Mussolini’s recreation of Roman traditions, Bertelli draws from images of the Roman god, Janus. However, whereas Janus had two faces to look into the past and the future, Mussolini is able to look in all directions. Bertelli had also become interested in Futurist ideas and the theories of F T Marinetti during the 1920s and the head embodies their passion for machines, speed and power. The image is very much in keeping with Mussolini’s own self-publicity of the time which presented him in the role of technological and cultural pioneer.

ContextDescription
image: A continuous profile of the face of Benito Mussolini.

Format
terracotta with black glaze

Dimensions
340 mm
280 mm
280 mm

CopyrightStatus
artist's estate

MakerName
Bertelli, Renato

ProductionCountry
Italy

AcquisitionMethod
gift

AcquisitionNote
The version in the Imperial War Museum was originally owned in the 1930’s by Count Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini’s son-in-law.

AcquisitionDate
1945

RelatedImageFile
Transfer0028/IWM_ART_LD_005975.jpg

SubThemeTag
MythsAndHeroes

UncatTransferDate
24/06/2008 05:50:27

URLEncodedDeptName
Art

FormatDescription
sculpture

AuthorityLink
Bertelli, Renato

IndexPlace
Italy

Theme
Italy 1919-1939

CoLStatus
Published

DigitalAsset
Y