Lo sciamano del palatino – L'archeologia magica di Giacomo Boni
(The Shaman of the Palatine Hill – Giacomo Boni's Magical Archeology)
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.