"Il congresso socialista di Bologna" (L'Asino cover, 1904)
Colour cover in two panels. Above, a red-and-black scene of delegates hurling chairs and clubs at one another; below, a fat top-hatted gentleman and a cardinal-like cleric in lace hold a ragged, weeping worker between them and strip off his trousers. The tell is the caption's label 'succhioni' (bloodsuckers) for the pair: the brawl is framed as the opening they wait for.
- Date
- April 10, 1904
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- L'Asino (Rome satirical weekly); cartoonist Gabriele Galantara ('Rata Langa')
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- Kingdom of Italy
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Giolitti Government
- Leader
- Giovanni Giolitti
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Labor, Elections and party politics, Religion
- Event
- Bologna Socialist Congress 1904
- Techniques
- Name-calling
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (scan from galantara.it), retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published 1904; artist d. 1937; Commons: PD-old, no restrictions flagged)
Gabriele Galantara ('Rata Langa'), L'Asino, Rome, 10 April 1904, cover; via Wikimedia Commons (scan credited to galantara.it).
Text on the object
ANNO XIII — N. 15 Roma, 10 aprile 1904 (Conto corrente con la Posta) L'ASINO È IL POPOLO, UTILE, PAZIENTE E BASTONATO SI PUBBLICA IN ROMA IL SABATO ED IN PROVINCIA LA DOMENICA. PER TUTTO CIÒ CHE RIGUARDA L'AMMINISTRAZIONE E LA REDAZIONE INDIRIZZARE AL GIORNALE L'ASINO VIA S. CLAUDIO 57 ROMA. TELEF. N. 3313. ABBONAMENTI PER L'ITALIA E PAESI DELL'UNIONE POSTALE ANNO L. 5 ESTERO L. 10. SEMESTRE L. 3 ESTERO L. 5. TRIMES. L. 1,50. UN NUMERO SEPARATO CENT. 10. ESTERO CENT. 20. IL CONGRESSO SOCIALISTA DI BOLOGNA Rata Langa [signature, lower right of the lower panel] Un pio desiderio dei succhioni nostrani: Svaligiare il paese mentre i suoi difensori si bastonano.
Year XIII — No. 15 Rome, 10 April 1904 (Postal current account) THE DONKEY IT IS THE PEOPLE, USEFUL, PATIENT AND BEATEN Published in Rome on Saturday and in the provinces on Sunday. For everything concerning administration and editorial matters, write to the newspaper L'Asino, Via S. Claudio 57, Rome. Tel. no. 3313. Subscriptions for Italy and countries of the Postal Union: year L. 5, abroad L. 10; half-year L. 3, abroad L. 5; quarter L. 1.50. Single copy 10 cents, abroad 20 cents. THE SOCIALIST CONGRESS OF BOLOGNA Rata Langa [signature, lower right of the lower panel] A pious wish of our home-grown bloodsuckers: To plunder the country while its defenders beat one another with clubs.
The masthead boxes are small and were read from a 960-pixel rendering, so individual figures (prices, telephone number) may be misread. 'Bastonato' in the motto is read as 'cudgelled' (beaten with a stick), the same verb family as 'si bastonano' in the caption. Translation is by Claude and unverified by a fluent reader.
