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Description
‘Vincere e vinceremo’
‘The glorification of the 67th Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel Giuseppe Vassarotti’ (‘La glorificazione del 67 fanteria comandato dal Colonnello Vassarotti Cav. Giuseppe XVIII’)
Monumental size of 140 x 120 cm.
Signed ‘Amadio XVIII’ (1940).
Inscribed lower left: ‘8° Regg. fant. Milano’.
Inscribed on the back: ‘La glorificazione del 67 fanteria comandato dal Colonnello Vassarotti Cav. Giuseppe XVIII’ (‘to the glorification of the 67th Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel Giuseppe Vassarotti’).
Sticker on the back with the description: ‘Unione Fascista – Professionisti ed Artisti, Bergamo’.
The painting is described in detail in ‘il Regime dell’ARTE’, Premio Cremona 1939-1941, 2018.
‘Vincere e vinceremo’, meaning ‘Victory, and we will win’, was part of the speech of Mussolini, held at June 10, 1940 from the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia in Rome (photo), where he declared war on France and Great Britain.
The painting is described in ‘il Regime dell’ARTE’, Premio Cremona 1939-1941, 2018.
The text on page 230 reads: ‘….being a good painter, as evidenced by the painting exhibited in the [Cremona] exhibition and by the canvas, which recently appeared on the art market, ‘Vincere e vinceremo’, created in 1939/40. The work shows five Italian soldiers in a trench (oil on canvas; 120 x 140 cm; inscriptions: lower left ‘Amadio XVIII’ and ‘8th Regg. fantasy Milan’; written on the back: ‘The glorification of the 67 Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel Vassarotti Cav. Joseph XVIII’; label on the back of the ‘Unione Fascista Professionisti ed Artisti, Bergamo.
The painting celebrates the heroism of the 67th Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Giuseppe Vassarotti (born in 1882). The Regiment fought in 1936 in Ethiopia, in 1940 it operated on the French front, later on the Greek-Albanian front. In 1942, it was sent again to France and in the first months of 1943 the Regiment was transferred to Puglia’.
Signed XVIII (1940)
The Era Fascista (‘Fascist Era’) was a calendar era used in Fascist Italy. The March on Rome, or more precisely the accession of Mussolini as prime minister on 29 October 1922, is day 1 of Anno I of the Era Fascista. The calendar was introduced in 1926 and became official in 1927 (Anno V). Each year of the Era Fascista (E.F.) was an Anno Fascista, abbreviated A.F.
Sticker on the back of the ‘Unione Fascista – Professionisti ed Artisti, Bergamo’. 
Text on the back : ‘La glorificazione del 6-7 fanteria comandato dal Colonnello Vassarotti Cav. Giuseppe XVIII’.
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : 140 x 120 cm |
| – signed | : left below: ‘Amadio XVIII’ |
| – type | : oil on canvas. Painting located in Italy. |
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BIOGRAPHY: BRUNO AMADIO
Italian fascist art: the Premio Cremona exhibitions
Starting as early as 1933, German Nazis had attempted to eradicate so-called Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art). Censors in Fascist Italy had long allowed artists relatively free reign to express their creativity so long as they adhered to European or national norms. However, from 1936 onwards, events such as the victorious war in Ethiopia, the proclamation of the Italian Empire and the declaration of the Rome-Berlin Axis followed by the Pact of Steel in 1939 caused Italy to be drawn into Hitler’s sphere of influence….Even art and culture had to be reconsidered in order to conform more closely to Nazi ideals which promoted the pure Aryan race. From 1937 to 1943, Italian artists produced works of ‘militant-art’ that followed official propaganda in line with Nazi tastes and principles. These artworks were shown regularly at local and regional events, and at the three Premio Cremona exhibitions held in the city of Cremona in 1939, 1940 and 1941, national contests which aimed to popularize ‘militant art’…..
The Cremona Prize Exhibition was established in 1938 by the powerful politician and journalist Roberto Farinacci (1892-1945), a man who was ironically nicknamed ‘the German’, for his burning anti-Semitic feeling and open attraction towards Nazism. Mostly based on anti-intellectual aesthetics, and centered on didactic realism, the first Cremona Prize opened successfully in 1939, and was visited by the Duce and the Italian King. Artists were not free to choose their own subject and were compelled to adhere to the themes chosen for them for that year…
(‘Sporting Propaganda in Visual Arts Under the Fascist Regime and the Example of the 1941 Cremona Prize’, by Gigliola Gori, 2020)
Cremona 1939 theme’s:
– ‘Listening to a speech by the Duce on the Radio’ (first prize Luciano Richetti, second prize Luigi Stracciari)
– ‘State of Mind created by Fascism’
Cremona 1940 theme:
– ‘The Battle for Grain’ (first prize Pietro Gaudenzi, second prize Cesare Maggi)
Cremona 1941 theme:
– ‘Italian Youth of Littorio’ (first prize Cesare Maggi)
The paintings shown in 1940 and 1941 in Cremona, were again displayed in Germany, at the exhibitions ‘Ausstellung Italienischer Bilder aus dem II Wettbewerb in Cremona’, Künstlerhaus Hannover, city of Hannover, 1940, respectively the ‘Ausstellung Italienischer Bilder aus dem III Wettbewerb in Cremona’, Künstlerhaus Hannover, city of Hannover, 1941.
Between May 1945 and the beginning of 1946, numerous Cremona-displayed paintings were destroyed by order of the CLN (The National Liberation Committee).
In 2018/19 some 40 surviving Cremona paintings were displayed at ‘il il Regime dell’ARTE’, Premio Cremona 1939-1941, held in the Museo Civico Ala Ponzone, Cremona.
Bruno Amadio, ‘La nazione è poggiata sulla terra’ (‘The Nation is based on Soil’). Size 267 x 206 cm. Displayed at ’II Premio Cremona’, 1940. Later in 1940, the painting was again displayed at the ‘Ausstellung Italienischer Bilder aus dem II Wettbewerb in Cremona’, Künstlerhaus Hannover, city of Hannover. In 2018/19 it was displayed at ‘il il Regime dell’ARTE’, Premio Cremona 1939-1941, Museo Civico Ala Ponzone, Cremona.
‘La nazione è poggiata sulla terra’ by Amadio, displayed at ‘il il Regime dell’ARTE’, Premio Cremona 1939-1941, Museo Civico Ala Ponzone, Cremona, 2018/19. 
‘La nazione è poggiata sulla terra’ by Amadio, displayed at ‘II Premio Cremona’, 1940; depicted in the exhibition catalogue.
‘Die Nation ist auf das Land gestützt’ (‘La nazione è poggiata sulla terra’) by Amadio, displayed at the ‘Ausstellung Italienischer Bilder aus dem II Wettbewerb in Cremona’, Künstlerhaus Hannover, city of Hannover, 1940; depicted in the exhibition catalogue.
Bruno Amadio, ‘L’Italia ha creato col suo sangue l’Impero’ (‘Italy created the Empire with its Blood’). Displayed in Room 1 (!) at ‘II Premio Cremona’, 1939; depicted in the exhibition catalogue.
The title comes from Mussolini’s Victory Day speech of 9 May 1936 in Rome, where he announced the end of the Ethiopian War and the birth of the Italian Impero. This was a speech of major foreign political importance, demanding a place for Italy alongside the great powers, while, at the same time, it also sent a message to the people concerning what the empire expected of them. The full quote: ‘Il popolo italiano ha creato col suo sangue l’impero. Lo feconderà col suo lavoro e lo difenderà contro chiunque con le sue armi’, or ‘The Italian people have created the empire with their blood. They will fertilize it with their work, -and will defend it against anyone with their weapons.’
Left: Bruno Amadio, ‘Artemide mussoliniana’ (‘Artemis of Mussolini’). Displayed at ’II Premio Cremona’, 1941.
Right: ‘Die Artemis Mussolinis’ by Amadio, displayed at the ‘Ausstellung Italienischer Bilder aus dem III Wettbewerb in Cremona’, Künstlerhaus Hannover, city of Hannover, 1941; depicted in the exhibition catalogue.
Die ‘Artemide mussoliniana’, depicted on the cover of ‘Italian Fascism and the Female Body’, by Gigliola Goi, 2004.
Left: Bruno Amadio, ‘Il rigattiere’ (‘The second-hand dealer’). Size 51 x 37. Sold by an Italian auction house in 2021.
Right: Bruno Amadio, ‘La venditrice di giornali’ (‘The newspaper Seller’). Size 46 x 31 cm. Sold by an Italian auction house in 2021.
Bruno Amadio, date unknown.
Bruno Amadio
Bruno Amadio (1911 – 1981), also known under the pseudonym of ‘Bragolin’, was an Italian painter. Information about his life is very scarce. It is known that Amadio studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice. According to some sources he was an active supporter of fascism and Mussolini. It is not clear what he exactly did before WWII; some say he worked in Venice as a painter and restorer, selling his paintings to tourists.
Amadio style was still lifes, rural scenes, female portraits and religious subjects.
He took part in all three editions of the ‘Cremona Prize’. In 1939, he exhibited at the ‘Il Premio Cremona’ with his piece ‘L’Italia ha creato col suo sangue l’Impero’ (‘Italy created the Empire with its Blood’). The painting earned the most prominent place of the exhibition: it was the first work in the first room.
L’Italia ha creato col suo sangue l’Impero’
The title ‘Italy created the Empire with its Blood’) comes from Mussolini’s Victory Day speech of 9 May 1936 in Rome, where he announced the end of the Ethiopian War and the birth of the Italian Impero. This was a speech of major foreign political importance, demanding a place for Italy alongside the great powers, while, at the same time, it also sent a message to the people concerning what the empire expected of them. The full quote: ‘Il popolo italiano ha creato col suo sangue l’impero. Lo feconderà col suo lavoro e lo difenderà contro chiunque con le sue armi’, or ‘The Italian people have created the empire with their blood. They will fertilize it with their work, and will defend it against anyone with their weapons.’
In 1940 Amadio was represented again at the ‘Il Premio Cremona’ with his work ‘La nazione è poggiata sulla terra’ (‘The Nation is based on Soil’). Later in 1940, the painting was again displayed in Germany, at the ‘Ausstellung Italienischer Bilder aus dem II Wettbewerb in Cremona’, Künstlerhaus Hannover, city of Hannover. In 2018/19 it was displayed at ‘il il Regime dell’ARTE’, Premio Cremona 1939-1941, Museo Civico Ala Ponzone, Cremona. The painting is owned by the Consorzio Agrario Provinziale, Cremona.
In 1941 Amadio took part in the third ‘Il Premio Cremona’ exhibition with ‘Artemide mussoliniana’ (‘Artemis of Mussolini’). Later in 1941 the work was displayed in Germany, at the ‘Ausstellung Italienischer Bilder aus dem III Wettbewerb in Cremona’, Künstlerhaus Hannover, city of Hannover, 1941. In 2004 the painting was printed on the cover of the book ‘Italian fascism and the Female Body’, by Gigliola Gori.
Bruni Amadio probably served in the 8th Infantry Regiment of Milan. He signed his painting ‘Vincere e vinceremo’ with ‘Amadio XVIII’ (1940), 8 Regg. fant. Milano’. The Regiment, based in Milan from 1919 – 1943, fought in 1940 against France, later it was sent to the Greek-Albanian area.
After the war Amadio moved to Madrid and Sevilia. He created a series of approx. 27 different crying children, signed under the pseudonym ‘Bragolin’. The works were overt kitsch, however Amadio was able to market them extremely well, also thanks to an English company that had purchased the rights to reproduce and sell them, especially in the US. The painter ‘Bragolin’ and the paintings of crying children are known to the general public because of a legend, according to which the paintings would be cursed and would condemn the houses in which they are hung to end up on fire.
Bruno Amadio returned to Italy in 1960, he spent the last period of his life in the village of Trebaseleghe, province of Padua. He died in 1981.