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Description
‘‘Il Fante Contadino’ (‘The Peasant Infantryman’)
Biography: Eugenio Baroni
Model for one of the 8 soldiers on the War Monument to Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, 2nd Duke of Aosta, in Turin.
Bronze, height 70 cm, cast in 1935.
Cast under supervison of Baroni in the studio of Fumagalli, Corso Napoli 48, Turin.
The bronze life-size casts were later also cast in the same studio of Fumagelli, but then executed by the craftsmen of the foundry Primo Capecchi from Pistoia, under the supervision of Publio Morbiducci. The models were enlarged by Giulio Marilli (source: ‘La Sculptura Monumentale Negli Anni Del Fascismo’, Umberto Allemanid & C, page 126).
‘Armata invitta’ (‘Undefeated Army’)
The War Monument depicts Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, 2nd Duke of Aosta, surrounded by 8 soldiers in various positions. Prince Emanuele Filiberto Vittorio Eugenio Alberto Genova Giuseppe Maria di Savoia, 2nd Duke of Aosta, commanded the Italian Third Army, which gained the nickname of ‘Armata invitta’ (‘undefeated army’). After the war, in 1926, he was promoted to the rank of Marshal of Italy by Benito Mussolini. The Italian General with the nickname ‘Undefeated Duke’, was in accordance with his will buried in the military cemetery of Redipuglia, together with thousands of soldiers of the Third Army.
With approval of Mussolini, the work was commissioned to Baroni on March 30, 1935. Baroni had worked on the design of monument from 1933 until his death on 24 June 1935. The execution of the work (casting of the life-size bronzes) was then commissioned to Publio Morbiducci, already chosen by Baroni as his successor. On 4 July 1937, two years after the death of Baroni, the monument was inaugurated by King Vittorio Emanuele III.
Left: ‘La Vedetta veterana’ (‘The Veteran Lookout’).
Right: ‘Il Fante contadino’ (‘The Peasant Infantryman’).
Left: ‘Il Fante che si toglie la maschera’ (‘The Infantryman who takes off his Mask’).
Right: ‘Il Fante ardito’ (‘The Daring Infantryman’).
Left: ‘Il Fante cittadino’ (‘The Citizen Infantryman’).
Right: ‘Il Bersagliere che ringuaina la baionetta’ (‘Marksman putting back his bayonet’). 
Left: ‘L’Alpino’ (‘Mountain Infanterist’).
Right: ‘La Vedetta giovane’ (‘The Young Lookout’). 
Bronze sketsches (all aprrox. 70 cm high), described and depicted in ‘La Sculptura Monumentale Negli Anni Del Fascismo’, Umberto Allemanid & C, page 126.
Eugenio Baroni, two other casts of the soldiers (‘L’Alpino’ and ‘Il Bersagliere che ringuaina la baionetta’) displayed at the exhibition ‘Art and Fascism’, Museum Mart, Rovereto, Italy, 2024. In the possession of the ‘Fondazione Cavallini Scarbi’.
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : height 70 cm |
| – signed | : signed at base |
| – type | : bronze |
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