Against iconoclasm: Romano Romanelli and the art of defascistization

After the fall of the fascist regime, efforts to erase the signs of fascist ideology often coincided with the preservation of material legacies. Within this transition, artists become pivotal figures bridging fascist ideology and defascistization efforts. They were called upon to make decisions and to carry out demands for the removal of regime symbols. Yet, at the same time, they were most invested in safeguarding these works, often their own, and in ensuring their visibility and survival. This article seeks to broaden the understanding of the network of actors actively engaged in reimagining democratic Italy’s public spaces and institutional settings. With the dual aim of examining both the management of fascist legacies in the early decades of the Republic and the role played by artists in this process, this study focuses on the Monument to the Legionnaire (1938–1968) by Romano Romanelli, an unfinished project of Fascist colonial propaganda entangled with hesitant efforts at defascistization.