Content note: Cartoon of political opponents swept as refuse into a sewer, under a headline celebrating the burning of a newspaper office. This object is shown as it was published. Why
L'Ardito front page marking the 15 April 1919 attack on the Avanti! offices, Milan
Front page of L'Ardito under the headline 'From the balcony of the Avanti! the black banner flies! 15 April 1919'. The cartoon shows a helmeted Ardito in a tasselled cap sweeping a heap of tiny figures into a sewer opening with a broom. Political opponents are drawn as refuse to be cleared away, and the attack on their newspaper is presented as a feat.
- Date
- 1920
- Period
- Interwar
- Made by
- L'Ardito, 'giornale dell'arditismo' (Milan; director Ferruccio Vecchi)
- Country
- Kingdom of Italy
- Medium
- Newspaper pages
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Nitti Government
- Leader
- Francesco Saverio Nitti
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Commemorate
- Techniques
- Name-calling
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (reproduction of L'Ardito), retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (Italian newspaper of 1919 or 1920, before 1931; Commons PD-old-70)
L'Ardito, Milan, 1919/1920; author unknown. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Text on the object
L'ARDITO GIORNALE DELL'ARDITISMO Direttore FERRUCCIO VECCHI Milano, Via Cerva [illegible] Dal balcone dell' "Avanti!" sventola il vessillo nero! 15 Aprile 1919 [caption under the cartoon: illegible] L'Ardito nel I anniversario della distruzione dell'Avanti!
THE ARDITO NEWSPAPER OF ARDITISMO Director FERRUCCIO VECCHI Milan, Via Cerva [illegible] From the balcony of the "Avanti!" the black banner flies! 15 April 1919 [caption under the cartoon: illegible] L'Ardito on the 1st anniversary of the destruction of the Avanti!
The masthead date line and issue number at the top, the street number, the small column text and the cartoon caption are illegible at this resolution. The footer is read from a heavily degraded half-tone; 'I anniversario' is the best reading.
