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No. 9 "Italia Redenta" [From 'The Great War Britains Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]
No. 9 "Italia Redenta" [From 'The Great War Britains Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]

No. 9 "Italia Redenta" [From 'The Great War Britains Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]

Artist (b. Geneva 1866 - d. London 1931)
Date1917
MediumLithograph on paper
Dimensions68.6 x 42.5 cm
ClassificationsPrint
Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Donated by the British Ministry of Information.
Object number464
DescriptionThis is a three colour planographic print (lithograph) on paper, and is part of a series entitled 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series. There are a total of six lithographs in this particular series, and in total there are ten series. The lithographs are numbered as if the entire ten series are one, so this print is number 9.

This print depicts a female warrior fighting what appears to be a two headed bird; in the foreground there are five female figures.

Despite being ostensibly part of the Triple Alliance with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy did not enter World War One until 1915, and then it was on the side on the Allies. Italy had reached a secret agreement with Britain and France which would see it gain territory in exchange for its commitment of Italian soldiers towards the Allied war effort. Rickett’s lithograph celebrates the possibility of Italy’s redemption through its support of the Allied cause. Since the 19th century a Nationalist movement of Italian Irredentism sought the unification with Italy of people of ethnic Italian origin, or Italian speakers, located in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and other territories. Thus places such as Trieste, parts of Dalmatia and South Tyrol as well as Italian pretensions for territory in Africa became bargaining tools. With the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 Italy gained much of the territory it aspired to along the Adriatic coast. Rickett’s lithograph ‘Italia Redenta’ shows a classically draped and helmeted winged figure warding off an attack from a two-headed eagle, a visual metaphor for the Austro-Hungary Empire. Below are shackled and oppressed people which The Studio described as ‘representing the long-alienated cities...scarcely able to yet realize their redemption.’ Italy had fought along its northern borders in difficult terrain and sustained heavy losses. Russian withdrawal from the war in 1917 added to the difficulty of the campaign. However, social unrest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire ultimately led to its being weakened and enabled the Italian army eventually take the upper hand.
Jessica O'Donnell 2014


On View
Not on view
No. 3 "Poland a Nation" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]
No. 3 "Poland a Nation" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]
Edmund Dulac
1917
No. 11 "The Re-birth of the Arts" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]
No. 11 "The Re-birth of the Arts" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]
Charles Haslewood Shannon
1917
No. 62 "Maintaining Export Trade: The ship is being shelled by a U-boat" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Transport by Sea' series]
No. 62 "Maintaining Export Trade: The ship is being shelled by a U-boat" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Transport by Sea' series]
Charles Pears
1917
No. 63 "Supplying the Navy: A battleship coaling at sea" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Transport by Sea' series]
No. 63 "Supplying the Navy: A battleship coaling at sea" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Transport by Sea' series]
Charles Pears
1917
No. 64 "Transporting Troops: Convoy of Transports with attendant Destroyers" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Transport by Sea' series]
No. 64 "Transporting Troops: Convoy of Transports with attendant Destroyers" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Transport by Sea' series]
Charles Pears
1917
No. 66 "The Place of Safety" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Transport by Sea' series]
No. 66 "The Place of Safety" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Transport by Sea' series]
Charles Pears
1917
No. 61 "Maintaining Food Supplies: The arrival of the grain ship. She has been mined and is awash but reaches port." [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Transport by Sea' series]
No. 61 "Maintaining Food Supplies: The arrival of the grain ship. She has been mined and is awash but reaches port." [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Transport by Sea' series]
Charles Pears
1917
No. 10 "The Triumph of Democracy" [From 'The Great War Britains Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]
No. 10 "The Triumph of Democracy" [From 'The Great War Britains Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]
William Rothenstein
1917
Dietro Le Quinte
Dietro Le Quinte
Janet Mullarney
1997
No. 7 "The Restoration of Serbia" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]
No. 7 "The Restoration of Serbia" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]
Gerald Moira
1917
No. 54 "Convalescence in England" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Tending the Wounded' series]
No. 54 "Convalescence in England" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'Tending the Wounded' series]
Claude Shepperson
1917
No. 12 "The Reign of Justice" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]
No. 12 "The Reign of Justice" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]
Edmund J Sullivan
1917