---
title: 'Depero, ''Libro imbullonato'' (1927), page 21: Mussolini quotation set as a typographic page'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/depero-libro-imbullonato-mussolini-quote-1927/
description: 'A single page of an artist''s book: nine lines of text in sans-serif capitals set on a rising diagonal and growing in size, ending in the bold signature…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Depero, 'Libro imbullonato' (1927), page 21: Mussolini quotation set as a typographic page](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/depero-libro-imbullonato-mussolini-quote-1927.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/depero-libro-imbullonato-mussolini-quote-1927.jpg)

# Depero, 'Libro imbullonato' (1927), page 21: Mussolini quotation set as a typographic page

A single page of an artist's book: nine lines of text in sans-serif capitals set on a rising diagonal and growing in size, ending in the bold signature word 'MUSSOLINI'. The text calls for a new art 'of our times' beside the heritage of the past. The tell: the leader's words are the only content of the page, placed at the book's centre as an endorsement, with no occasion, date or source printed for the quotation.

## Text on the object

Original (Italian) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
noi non dobbiamo rimanere dei contemplativi
non dobbiamo sfruttare
il patrimonio del passato
noi dobbiamo creare
un nuovo patrimonio da porre
accanto a quello antico
dobbiamo crearci
un'arte nuova
un'arte dei nostri tempi

MUSSOLINI

[page number:] 21
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
we must not remain contemplatives
we must not exploit
the heritage of the past
we must create
a new heritage to set
beside the ancient one
we must create for ourselves
a new art
an art of our own times

MUSSOLINI

[page number:] 21
```

Lower-case type as printed. Translation is a machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader.

[← Cachin, jeté en prison ... contre la guerre criminelle du Maroc (Cachin, Thrown into Prison ... for Opposing the Criminal War in Morocco)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cachin-jete-en-prison-guerre-du-maroc-1927/) [Kingdom of Italy 5 lire coin, 1927: eagle on the fasces (Romagnoli design) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/italy-5-lire-aquilotto-coin-1927/)

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- [J'Accuse...! Lettre au Président de la République (J'Accuse...! Letter to the President of the Republic), L'Aurore, 13 January 1898](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jaccuse-laurore-front-page-1898/) (France · Jan 13, 1898 · Testimonial). Content note: Newspaper page about a wrongful-conviction controversy; the letter text refers to a prisoner held in torture-like conditions on Devil's Island; no graphic imagery.
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- [Indian Opinion (Phoenix, Natal), page 266: 'Natal Mercury's Comments' and 'The Durban Conference' during the coal-mine strike, 29 October 1913](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/indian-opinion-natal-mercury-durban-conference-1913/) (Union of South Africa · Oct 29, 1913 · Testimonial)
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