Italian Artists Reflect on the Resistance in World War II

Villa Altieri, the subject of the last post, has been, in addition to its antiquities museum, its archaeological siting, and its role as Palazzo della Cultura e della Memoria della Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale (Palace of culture and memory of the metropolitan capital city of Rome), home to many small and interesting exhibitions. "Pietà l'è morta: omaggio alla resistenza" ("Pity is dead: homage to the resistance") was the one that drew us to the villa in the first place.

The artworks were created mostly after the "Nazi-Fascist" period of World War II had ended, some immediately after (apparently some during that period as well) and others 2 decades later.

The main image in promotional materials for the exhibition is this somewhat strange caricature, at right, of Antonio Gramsci by Giuseppe Guerreschi, from 1967. Gramsci was a symbol of the opposition to Fascism, a founder of Italy's Communist Party (the mark on his forehead) and died in 1936 in a Fascist prison (note the chain and handcuffs), where he wrote his profoundly influential Prison Notebooks during his arduous 11 years of incarceration (evocation of Alexei Navalny). The iconography of Gramsci continues with wall paintings in Rome and his oft-visited burial site in Rome's Non-Catholic Cemetery (He was an atheist, hence his burial outside Catholic Church grounds). At the end of this post are photos of Gramsci, of his memorialized tombstone, and of one of the Roman wall paintings.

Many of the works, by some of the best artists of the period, are disturbingly graphic in their depictions of Fascist horrors. 

Left, a print from Renato Guttuso's "Gott mit uns," a portfolio of 24 first issued in 1945, the year World War II ended in Europe. "Gott mit uns" ("God with us") was a slogan on German World War I and World War II uniforms, often on belt buckles. (Frederika Randall's review of an exhibition of Guttuso's work from 2013 is here.) Some records date the prints to earlier than 1945.

The writing at the bottom right says,"Compagni! vendicate i martiri di via Tasso," translated: "Comrades! Avenge the martyrs of via Tasso," referencing both the Nazi imprisonment of political prisoners at that notorious Rome locale (see below on the sponsorship of the exhibit in part by the museum now housed there) and the murder of more than 300 men, many taken from the via Tasso prison, at the caves of Ardeatine. For a post on that atrocity and the memorial now there, see here (also on an itinerary in our book, Rome the Second Time).

Below, another print from the same series.

Three pieces by Guttuso in the exhibit appear to reference the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962) and are titled "Massacro" ("Massacre"); two are below. The artist has other, similar works with the same title from 1940, reflecting the Nazi horrors.

Renato Guttuso, "Massacro" 1961

Renato Guttuso, "Algerine"
 ("Algerian woman") 1961

Below is Ugo Attardi's (another noted Italian artist, 1923-2006) "Questo Matto Mondo Assassino" ("This crazy, murderous world") from 1967:

A few of the prints depicted some hope from Resistance, among them Giacomo Manzù's "Partigiano con fazzoletto rosso" ("Partisan with bandana," no date), the red bandana to this day is a symbol of the Italian partisans, who still maintain an organization, ANPI (ANPI - Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia). Manzù is most remembered as a sculptor.

Another Attardi print shows a statue of Mussolini being dragged down and away:

Ugo Attardi, "Profile del duce e rivolta" ("Profile of the Duce and revolt"), 1951.

A small sculpture based on the iconic scene from Roberto Rossellini's 1945 "Roma, Città Aperta" was also on view.

Vincenzo Gaetaniello, "Roma, città aperta," no date

Also in the exhibit were photos by Margaret Bourke-White about 5 months after the liberation of Rome but before the end of the war in Europe. Some 80,000 leftists celebrated the anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution and denounced the monarchy (which would be rejected in the June 2, 1946 plebiscite following the war). Both of the photos below are titled "Comizio sul colle Palatino 12 Novembre 1944" ("Rally on the Palatine Hill, Nov. 12, 1944").

The exhibit featured writings from Italians such as Cesare Pavese and Giuseppe Ungaretti.

Ungaretti's poem at right above is titled "To the dead of the resistance" and has been translated as follows:

Here,

They live on forever

Those eyes that have been closed to the light

So that everyone

Would have them open

For eternity

To that light

The exhibition was comprised mainly of works from "art books," portfolios of prints, all of them in private collections. Many were from the collection o the art critic Dario Micacchi. In some ways, exhibitions based on one or two private collections, which can lead to an increase in prices for the art, seem a capitulation to capitalism, rather than a curated presentation of art and philosophy. The instances of these are many these days, whether it's Ettore Sottsass at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or in Rome Olivetti at the GNAM (Galleria Nazionale del'Arte Moderna) or the Barbie exhibit at the Vittoriano. And yet, we are fortunate that these private works get any showing.

The subtitle of the exhibition - "Omaggio alla resistenza" - "Homage to the Resistance" - is from a 1964 artists' book edited by Salvatore Quasimodo:

The main title of the exhibition - "Pietà l'è morta" - "Pity is dead" - is from a Resistance anthem by Nuto Revelli, less famous than "Bella Ciao" but well-known to Italians. The theme of the song is that it's time to forget pity for the enemy and to go after them. Two lines read:

Combatte il partigiano la sua battaglia:

Tedeschi e fascisti, fuori d'Italia!

and a translation online is:

The partisan fights his battle:

Heinies and fascists, out of Italy!

"Tedeschi" means "Germans," and in our experience is not an epithet. A modern translation might read somewhat differently.

Here, you can listen to the song, as a dirge - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFbAkZAiUs

A modern version (performed on Liberation Day, April 25, 2013) by Ginevra Di Marco, with substantial changes in the lyrics, is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMan5HwRV_0.

Dianne

Also contributing to the exhibition were the Togliatti archives and materials from the Museo storico della Liberazione (Museum of the Liberation) on via Tasso.(#3 on RST's Top 40). The museum and the Fosse Ardeatine are on the same itinerary in our book, Rome the Second Time: 15 Itineraries that Don't Go to the Coliseum.

Below, a photo of Gramsci from the early 1920s, when he was about 30, then a wall painting by OZMO under the train overpasse in Ostiense, and finally, Gramsci's much-visited (including by us) tombstone in the Non-Catholic Cemetery in Rome.

Life in Rome under the Coronavirus, by Larry Litman

Here at RST, we are reaching out to people living in Rome who are experiencing the impact of the coronavirus on the Eternal City and on their daily lives.  We saw this Facebook post by our friend Larry Litman less than 24 hours ago and thought our readers would appreciate it.  

Larry lived in Hoboken, New Jersey, before moving to Rome in 2007.  In the early 1970s he studied at Loyola University of Chicago's Rome Center, now the John Felice Rome Center on Monte Mario. "That was when I fell in love with the city of Rome," Larry writes, "and then had the dream of making Rome my home."

Larry is a teacher librarian at AmBrit International School and is active at St. Paul's Within the Walls (the Episcopal Church on via Nazionale).  He also volunteers at the Non-Catholic Cemetery. He has two adult children and two grandchildren living in New York City.

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18 Days Since School Closed 13th Day of Lockdown 4th Sunday of Lent 22 March, 2020 The Second Day of Spring

An Update from Rome:

Things are not getting better yet. The death toll continues to rise, not just here in Italy, but around the world. According to the Italian Ministry of Health website (updated at 5:00 pm 22 March):

Currently Testing Positive: 42,681 Recovered: 6,072 Deaths: 4,825 Total number of infected: 53,578

These are staggering numbers. In our region of Lazio there are 661 people hospitalized, 591 in recovery and 70 receiving intensive therapy. It is much worse in the north. (Just in the province/county of Rome there are a total of 893 people with Covid-19.)

So, how does one live in this environment?

My Sunday was fairly normal, with some modifications. I got up and participated in the Eucharist at St. Paul’s within the Walls Episcopal Church through ZOOM. Afterwards, most of us regathered for Coffee Hour in another Zoom meeting. It was great to interact with the

Virtual coffee hour via Zoom after online church service.

people I would usually be having conversation with on a Sunday morning. Vincenzo made a pasta carbonara & salad for lunch, we took a nap, did some reading and now I am marinating pork chops that I will cook for dinner. (I also made a carrot and raisin salad.)

We’ll watch a Netflix film after dinner. That’s almost a normal Sunday, but we never left our apartment!

Larry's condominium courtyard

This past week I went out into our condominium garden area, a small park surrounded by the five buildings of the complex. It was the first time I walked on the ground level since the lockdown started. Vincenzo has been good about going shopping every few days for the things we need. A supermarket is a short drive away and we have a butcher, small bodega and bakery just across the piazza. Amazon has delivered things like baking soda and baking powder that I like to use for baking, but are not usually found in Italian markets. (I baked banana bread yesterday.)

On Monday I return to school, via eLearning. I will “stop in” to visit a couple classes during the live sessions with their teachers and I am working to provide assistance and resources to enrich the learning experiences of our students. It looks like we will be staying out of school into May, maybe even to the end of the year. We have been learning how to do this as we go, and each week our teaching and learning are getting better.

I am enjoying more face time than usual with my kids and grandkids, as well as being in touch with friends more than usual, from California to Cincinnati, NYC and Canada.

How do I feel? Probably like a cloistered nun! I miss the church bells across the piazza. They used to ring several times a day before the Masses, but there are no more public Masses. A priest friend in Germany sent me a recording of his church bell!

I continue to be grateful for a supportive partner and good health. I am thankful for family and friends around the world with whom I can stay in touch because of 21st Century technology.

A Secret Street in Rome--bet you've never been there!

There aren't too many secret streets in Rome--those off-off-off-the beaten path streets that even the locals may not know.  We've found one, and none too soon, for it's about to disappear, or at the least take on a very different look.  As it turns out, some interesting folks--including a number of prominent artists--live on the street (more below).  But the reason we know about it is because some of the buildings are illegal. 

We're talking about via Paolo Caselli, some 200 yards of homes and businesses that could be said to connect the neighborhood of Ostiense with that of Testaccio.  One end of the street begins precisely across the street from the entrance to the non-Catholic cemetery, which backs up onto the Pyramid. One can drive in this way.  The other end, accessible on foot only, can be found at the end of a small parking lot, directly across the street from the 1930s-era post office on via Marmorata.

via Paolo Caselli, non-Catholic cemetery end

Around the bend

Although we had been to the non-Catholic cemetery many times, we had never "seen" this street--until, that is, it appeared in the newspapers--and not because it was a quaint, unrecognized tourist attraction, which it is not, except maybe for RST.  As reported in La Repubblica, via Paolo Caselli is a poster child for abusivismo--literally, abusiveness, but in this case illegally constructed buildings, those lacking proper construction permits and other authorizations--and probably not paying taxes.

Certainly has the look of a legit business

Indeed, the story as reported is more interesting than that.  At via Paolo Caselli #1 (the first building on the left as you enter from the cemetery side), not only has one of the units been illegally occupied for more than ten years, but the brother of the occupier heads the police unit charged with keeping

A series of buildings at #1

track of the ownership of Rome buildings.  Sounds  bad!  Moreover, it looks like the family has been profiting from illegal building for more than 50 years, dating back decades to when the father of the two brothers distributed mineral water from a warehouse on the street.

A business behind the gate--not sure what.

And there's another angle here that we found fascinating.  There are many other "abusivo" properties on the street, and most of them are occupied not by Mafia types or low-lifes or anything of the sort, but--guess what?--by artists!  Some or most or all of them will be "sgomberati" (evicted), and the buildings they occupy torn down, costs borne by the occupiers (we'll believe that when we see it). Several are sculptors, at least one a woman, an ancestor, so explains La Repubblica, of Naples gypsies. Another is Paolo Olmeda, owner of an historic foundry--apparently located on this street--in which Olmeda in 2006 made bronze reproductions of Amodeo Modigliani's 1910 Tête di Cartiatide. Then there's the German artist, Janine von Thungen, who made molds of the walls of the catacombs of San Callisto and created the work "Eternity," for a time in the Villa Foscari in Venice.

von Thungen's "Eternity"  

Besides these notable artists, it seems the local station of the fire department is also responsible for its own "abusivo" structure, an add-on building at the Marmorata end of the street.

Perhaps only the bocce ball facility is legal.  Who knows?

Bill

Walking the (Aurelian) Wall (III): the Tame and the Wild Sides

A handsome portion of the wall, near the Pyramid, with a tropical look

This section of the Aurelian Wall, running from Porta San Paolo and the Pyramid to the Tevere (and Porta Portese), has two faces: one quite touristy and civilized, the other rather odd and possibly even a bit dangerous.  It is noted by some as one of the longer, intact stretches of this third century wall, once encircling all of Rome.  But the stretch has its limitations, as RST discovered. [Update: a Google map that includes this itinerary.]

To the left of the Pyramid, a short section
 of the wall, extending toward - but not to -
Porta San Paolo; here you also can see
where the wall  has been removed for traffic.

The tame, or civilized phase begins at the Pyramid (here, a part of the wall - another "existing structure" used to build the wall quickly in 271-75 AD).  Because this area is well known for armed resistance to Nazi occupation of Rome in 1943, the wall here is a resource for memories of that moment.

Remembering the dead

The pillar (photo right) remembers 471 people who died defending the city.  Just beyond, between the Pyramid and the wall proper, volunteers who care for the hundreds of cats that live in a special facility here, were closing up for the day.






And beyond that, the wall itself is impressive (see photo at the top of this post), even if the grounds on the outside of the wall are unkempt and full of evidence that a lot of drinking is done here: not only bottles but dozens of bottle caps embedded in a stump.  Though we're on the outside here, the inside of the wall is accessible in this area through two cemeteries: the well-known Non-Catholic Cemetery, which contains lots of important bodies, including that of the Italian intellectual Antonio Gramsci, and the haunting (British) Commonwealth Cemetery just across via N. Zabaglia, just ahead (both, again, inside the wall).

Mailbox for wall "address"

Now things get a bit funky.  As we continued beyond the small turnabout/piazza, following the outside of the wall, we passed a man relaxing in the weeds, then came upon a locked gate to which was attached a mail box, as if someone had once (or still did) live inside. 

Street-cleaning/garbage truck facility restricts access to wall

At this point the wall continues as part of an Ama (trash-collecting, street cleaning) facility.  We decided we would not have been welcome inside.  So we tracked back, hoping to follow the wall from the inside, past the front of the Commonwealth Cemetery, then a bit downhill onto the road that curves (clockwise) around Monte Testaccio, with its cool collection of late-night bars.

The Aurelian wall is somewhere ahead.  To the right,
the wall of the ex-Mattatoio

Following the curving road, in a couple of minutes we ended up at the long, straight road that fronts the ex-Mattatoio (literally, Killing Center, what we call a slaughterhouse, once a stockyard).  Heading left, toward the Aurelian wall (not yet visible), graffiti covering a portion of the ex-Mattatoio, then right--there's just a glimpse of the wall here--along a row of houses occupied, we think, by new and poor immigrants, Romanians and others, perhaps Roma (Rom, "gypsies").

A glimpse of the wall, between the wall of the ex-Mattatoio (left) and housing (right)

NO TAV graffiti, inside the ex-Mattatoio

Dianne would go no further.  Bill took the first right, then a quick left, quickly observing a row of about ten home-made shacks and a big barking black dog (which was fortunately chained).  Bill, too, retreated--from danger and likely embarrassment--and our not-so-intrepid couple retraced their steps to one of several open entrances to the yards, heading to and beyond a heavily graffitied tower at the center of the complex (of the graffiti on the walls to the left, note the nice train with
the NO TAV sign: in northern Italy, especially, there's strong opposition to a proposed new high-speed train (Treno Alta Velocita) through the French and Italian Alps.

The wall ends--or appears to end.  Photo taken from train.
Despite the sign, we are still in Testaccio, not yet across
the Tevere in Trastevere.

At the far end of the large open area of the ex-Mattatoio there's another road, inside the complex, leading left.  Not useful, we decided, in locating the wall.  So we left the complex, ahead and just to the right, through an exit onto the Lungotevere Testaccio that wasn't open a year ago.  Walking left, the road ends abruptly after about 200 meters, at a railroad bridge over the Tevere.  We still can't see the wall, and-- from a train several days later--we saw why: the wall, too, ends abruptly before it reaches the river.

Along the Tevere.  If not part of the wall, what is it?

We're thinking that the wall planners didn't see any necessity for a wall along the river--a sort of natural barrier--but there is an existing wall-like section, including a tower, along the road that runs above the river here, and some - but not all - maps show the wall was indeed here.

Tent housing, along the bank of the Tevere

But (we're trying to think this through) if the Aurelian wall had been built along the expanse of river from the railroad bridge (to the south) to Ponte Sublicio/Porta Portese (to the north), then surely there would be visible remnants of the wall.  And there are none--except, possibly, that tower and related remains--or none to be seen from the road, anyway. Another theory - that the remnants of the wall became part of the now-high river embankments.  But, back to our trek: below the road, near a path that runs along the river bank, people are living amid weeds in tents and huts.  Not for tourists, not even us.

A favorite bar, at corner of via Galvani and via
N. Zabaglia.  Time for an aperitivo.  

Today's search for the wall at an end, we turned back into the ex-Mattatoio,  past the old stockyards and the giant Bambu' installation that is part of MACRO Testaccio, along the bars and clubs built into Monte Testaccio, to the next corner and one of our favorite bars.  We were lucky.  It was 6:05 p.m., and five minutes earlier happy hour had begun: an aperitivo and plenty to eat, a photo show of historic Testaccio, and all for Euro 4 per person.  What a city!


Bill   

The Protestant Cemetery is Now the Non-Catholic Cemetery, with an Updated History

John Keats' (1795-1821) and Joseph Severn's (1803-79) and his son's tombstones,
with the Pyramid in back; the graves came close to being moved, and this route
turned into a car and tram road, according to a new book on the history
of the cemetery.

The Non-Catholic Cemetery (as we now must call it; previously it had several names and most common being The Protestant Cemetery) is one of our favorite places in Rome, and hit #31 on our Top 40 RST list. 

Its history also fascinates us - so many stories to tell from those gravestones.  I confess to making an error by repeating a rumor that only Shelley's heart was buried there.  I was quickly corrected by one of the Cemetery volunteers... but the error remains in the print edition of RST, to my embarrassment.  Now I can't claim poor sources for any errors because there's a terrific new book out on the Cemetery:  Nicholas Stanley-Price's The Non-Catholic Cemetery in Rome: Its History, Its People and Its Survival for 300 Years.

Keats' tombstone; now
cleaned up; without his name,
as he requested of his friend,
Severn; only "Young English Poet"
 and the words he requested:
"Here lies one whose name
 was writ in water."

We had not known that the cemetery started in 1716 as a concession from the Pope to grant a place to bury non-Catholic members of the Stuart court, which was in exile in Rome.

Gramsci's tombstone, the third most
popular in the cemetery, per Stanley-
Price

Stanley-Price's description of the various attacks on the Cemetery were surprising to me.  In his chronology he has a note for 1888:  "Proposal of 1883 Master Plan to destroy the Old Cemetery is blocked."  Nor did we know the cemetery suffered bomb damage (by the Allies) in World War II.

Stanley-Price relates a late 19th century plan to cut a road for cars and a tram-line through the Cemetery and sever the ancient part - where Keats lies near to the Pyramid, from the merely "old" part (now called the New Cemetery) which was the orderly beginning of the main part of the cemetery.  In the 1880s about 30 meters' length of the Aurelian Wall next to the Pyramid was destroyed to make way for the road, then left boarded up for decades, then in 1930 put back in place ("restored" or rather a simulacra of it put in place).  Hence those lighter colored bricks, the opening for the cat pound, and the placement of numerous memorial plaques on this rather new section of the wall.

The book has nifty sidebars with lists such as  "Artists buried in the 18th century with no grave known today" and "A selection of noted sculptors buried in the Cemetery," as well as some with interesting side stories:  "Hendrik Anderson's sculpture Eternal Life" and "Cosmopolitanism of the cemetery burials." 

Angel of the Resurrection by Franklin Simmons (1839-1913) for wife Ella and himself
The cemetery has a plethora of notable sculptures, and many are described, with their history and artist information, in the new book.

You'll also find out why Gramsci is buried there, even though Italians generally cannot be (it goes back to his in-laws - they were good for something).  And Daisy Miller is buried there - at least in Henry James's novel.

The book - a good read -  generally is available at the cemetery office/book shop, Euro 18, or by mail outside Europe for Euro 37.  See more information on the Web site: The old drawings, maps,  and photos of the cemetery are evocative as well. www.cemeteryrome.it.

Dianne