Shelled buildings with graffiti, St. Andrea di Piave
Category
Photographs
Date
Jun 1918
Materials
Photographic card
Measurements
89 x 137 mm
Collection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 610244.23
Summary
Wreckage of building at St. Andrea di Piave; one wall in foreground is pockmarked with shrapnel holes and inscribed with graffiti. Official photographs of the battle between the Astico and Piave rivers, printed in postcard format. Transcript of caption 'At S. Andrea di Piave; patriotic inscriptions of our soldiers'. Descriptions come from list of captions enclosed in album translated by Marina Trivedi. Edith Teresa Hulton (1890-1972), later Lady Berwick, worked as a Red Cross volunteer in a variety of locations in north-east Italy in the Italian war zone during World War I. She married Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick of Attingham (1877-1947) on 30th June 1919 in Venice, Italy. Note on the graffiti; the message translates as 'Better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep'. This saying is attributed to Mussolini and one source even quotes that 'He said it in Rome on 24 September 1928 ' http://forum.quoteland.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/99191541/m/381109124 but from this photo it must have been around as a proverb before that date. It could not have been seen by Mussolini at this time as his military career had ended in 1917 when he was wounded by a mortar bomb. By the time this photograph was taken he had resumed his editor-in-chief position at Il Popolo d'Italia.
Provenance
8th Lady Berwick collection; bequeathed to the National Trust by Edith Teresa Hulton, Lady Berwick (1890-1972).
Marks and inscriptions
On bottom right of photograph: 1451 F Below photograph: S. Andrea di Piave Printed on back : 'SEZIONE FOTOCINEMATGRAFICA DEL P ESERCITO ITALIANO' (Photographic section of the Italian army) 'Riproduzione vietata' (reproduction prohibited) Written centre of back: 'S. Andrea Ponti di Piave'