Lo sciamano del palatino – L'archeologia magica di Giacomo Boni

(The Shaman of the Palatine Hill – Giacomo Boni's Magical Archeology)

Lo sciamano del palatino – L'archeologia magica di Giacomo Boni This poster was produced by CasaPound Italy to promote a roundtable discussion on Giacomo Boni's "magical archeology" and his alignment with interwar Italian Fascism at the neo-fascist organization's Roman headquarters on Via Napoleone III. Featuring a sculpture of Emperor Claudius as Jupiter and CasaPound Italy's "Arrowed Turtle" logo, the poster was largely intended as a disruption to the country's "Liberation Day" celebrations by subtly occupying public spaces with pro-fascist imagery and symbols. Source: Photograph by Brian J Griffith (December 28, 2020).

This poster was produced by CasaPound Italia (House of [Ezra] Pound Italy, CPI) to promote a roundtable discussion on the "archeologia magica" (magical archeology) of Giacomo Boni at CPI's Roman headquarters on Via Napoleone III. Educated at the Fine Arts Academy in Venice, he spent much of his career in archeology overseeing the early excavations of the ancient Roman Forum complex in central Rome, including the unearthing of the Iron Age necropolis near the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, the Galleria Cesaree, and the Shrine of Vesta, among other notable monuments (Fig. 1). During the course of these excavations, Boni developed a deep fascination with Roman spirituality, aspiring to revive classical Rome's pagan rituals within the modern Italian state. With the rise of the National Fascist Party during the early 1920s, he saw an opportunity for a "rebirth" of Roman customs and practices, aligning Fascism with the spirit of the Roman Empire. Sharing these perspectives, Benito Mussolini appointed Boni to the Italian Senate in 1923. Boni died two years later. Featuring a photograph of a statue of the Roman emperor Claudius posing as the Roman god Jupiter, along with CPI's "Arrowed Turtle" logo, this poster's visual elements highlight interwar Fascism's preoccupation with the "resurrection" of the Roman Empire under Mussolini's regime (Cartwright 2016; 2020).

This poster was distributed throughout Rome in the days leading up to April 25, 2019, the 79th anniversary of "Liberation Day," when anti-fascist Italian Partisans, along with their partners in the Allied Powers, defeated Axis Alliance forces in northern Italy, bringing about a collapse of Mussolini's Repubblica Sociale Italiana (Italian Social Republic; 1943-45) in the closing months of World War II. Every year on April 25th, tens of thousands of anti-fascist demonstrators pour into Italy's streets and squares, singing Italian Partisan hymns, such as the world-renowned "Bella Ciao" (Beautiful Goodbye), and commemorating the "martyrs" who gave their lives in the struggle against Fascism. Thus, by distributing this poster in conjunction with the country's April 25th celebrations, CPI's poster was intended to visually disrupt Rome's "Liberation Day" celebrations by occupying the city's public spaces, even if only subtly, with pro-fascist imagery and symbols (Figs. 2, 3, and 4).

In addition to CPI's "Shaman of Palatine Hill" poster, a handful of anti-fascist organizations, including the Roman division of the Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia (National Association of Italian Partisans) and Azione Antifascista Roma Est (East Rome Anti-Fascist Action), distributed "Liberation Day" posters promoting public marches, commemorative ceremonies, and other activities for April 25, 2019, two of which are featured in this collection.

Video

Fig. 4 A video of Dr. Brian J Griffith collecting one of CasaPound Italy's "The Shaman of the Palatine Hill – Giacomo Boni's Magical Archeology" posters from a wall near Rome's Piazza Balduina. Source: Video by Brian J Griffith (April 25, 2019).

Images

Lo sciamano del palatino – L'archeologia magica di Giacomo Boni This poster was produced by CasaPound Italy to promote a roundtable discussion on Giacomo Boni's "magical archeology" and his alignment with interwar Italian Fascism at the neo-fascist organization's Roman headquarters on Via Napoleone III. Featuring a sculpture of Emperor Claudius as Jupiter and CasaPound Italy's "Arrowed Turtle" logo, the poster was largely intended as a disruption to the country's "Liberation Day" celebrations by subtly occupying public spaces with pro-fascist imagery and symbols. Source: Photograph by Brian J Griffith (December 28, 2020).

Fig. 1 A photograph of the Italian archeologist Giacomo Boni standing in front of the Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum in 1907. Source: *L'Illustrazione Italiana* No. 7 (February 1907).

Fig. 2 Two copies of CasaPound Italy's "The Shaman of the Palatine Hill – Giacomo Boni's Magical Archeology" poster near Rome's Piazza Balduina. Source: Photograph by Brian J Griffith (April 25, 2019).

Fig. 3 A photograph of Dr. Brian J Griffith's trusty retractable razor with one of CasaPound Italy's "The Shaman of the Palatine Hill – Giacomo Boni's Magical Archeology" posters in the background. Griffith used this razor, along with a putty knife, to carefully negotiate the posters away from the walls, billboards, and other surfaces to which they had been affixed (see also Fig. 4). Source: Photograph by Brian J Griffith (April 25, 2019).

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Citation Information

CasaPound Italia, “Lo sciamano del palatino – L'archeologia magica di Giacomo Boni,” Where Monsters Are Born: Documenting a Fascist Revival in the Streets of Rome, 2018-2019, accessed October 22, 2024, https://wheremonstersareborn.com/items/show/25.

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Poster