Renato Bertelli (1900-1974) - Profilo continuo del Duce

This is a rare reproduction of the famous 1933 masterpiece titled 'Continuous Profile of the Duce', designed by the Italian artist Renato Bertelli (1900 - 1974), who was an important representative of the modern artistic movement of Futurism, which gained prominence during Mussolini's regime.

At first glance, it does not look like a bust, but a closer look reveals, with wonder, from every side of this work of art the characteristic profile of Mussolini with his powerful jawline.

Thus the title 'Continuous Profile of the Duce', as the profile of Mussolini is continuously recognizable (at 360 degrees), whichever side the object is turned: the profile remains visible on the left, on the right, from the front and from behind!

The brilliant design was considered (and still is) highly innovative, avant-garde and progressive for that era, and it evokes similarities with a mechanical component from the machine age, which aligned with Mussolini's self-professed image as defender of the working class.

The bust, very unusual in design, was also a symbol of the 'omnipresent leader who always kept everything and everyone under control'.

The Italian art critic Marco Moretti expressed it as follows: The plastic dynamics of this Duce's profile, visible from every point, launched 'without rhetoric the metaphor of a vigilant and sleepless leader who sees and protects everything.'

The concept behind it is tied to the design of stop-motion photography, and this did not escape even the famous photographer Robert Mapplethorpe: he produced a famous artistic photo of an exemplar of this bust (see Google 'Mapplethorpe Mussolini bust').

This resin reproduction is extraordinary in appearance and quality because it is finished with a bronze-finish layer and mounted on a ceramic base.

The resin bust, 14 cm tall, is firmly mounted on a black lacquered wooden base, 4 cm high, and the entire object (the two parts together) is 18 cm tall, 10 cm wide and 10 cm deep, and weighs 1.2 kilograms.

The item is shipped immediately after purchase with track-and-trace shipping, well packaged.