Italian Army Artillery Eagle
Monumental bronze eagle from Fascist Italy, perched atop an obelisk forming the letters “EIA”, an acronym for Esercito Italiano Artiglieria (Italian Army Artillery). Likely cast as a tribute to the artillery arm of the Royal Italian Army. The Latin motto “MAGIS MAGISQUE” meaning “ever more” runs along the pedestal, exalting the Fascist ideal of the relentless pursuit of ever-greater strength, and spiritual transcendence through struggle.
In relation to Italian Fascism, the eagle serves as a tribute to the imperial glory of Rome, and as an ancient Greco-Roman symbol of power and justice, legitimate and indeed necessary as a balancing force in both nature and human society. Yet the Fascist eagle also holds a wider cosmological and metaphysical significance, its meanings diverse and complex. A full understanding of its symbolism necessitates a perspective extending beyond the narrow confines of politics and modern historiography.
Within traditional Greco-Roman mythology, the eagle is the attribute and messenger of the supreme god Zeus-Jupiter, as are the thunderbolt and the fasces. A distinctly Olympic symbol, the eagle embodies order, sovereignty, civilization and law in opposition to the primordial, chaotic and undifferentiated forces of the Titans. This symbolism further extends into the medieval tradition, where the eagle, representing active justice and worldly authority, is seen as a necessary counterbalance to the Cross, representing passive faith and spiritual compassion:
“Crazy is he who is about to conquer the superior states of being without the Eagle and the Cross, while humanity is lost and, despite having the virtue of the cross, is deprived of the justice of the eagle.” – Dante Alighieri, c. 1321
68 x 104 x 24.8 cm
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Monumental bronze eagle from Fascist Italy, perched atop an obelisk forming the letters “EIA”, an acronym for Esercito Italiano Artiglieria (Italian Army Artillery). Likely cast as a tribute to the artillery arm of the Royal Italian Army. The Latin motto “MAGIS MAGISQUE” meaning “ever more” runs along the pedestal, exalting the Fascist ideal of the relentless pursuit of ever-greater strength, and spiritual transcendence through struggle.
In relation to Italian Fascism, the eagle serves as a tribute to the imperial glory of Rome, and as an ancient Greco-Roman symbol of power and justice, legitimate and indeed necessary as a balancing force in both nature and human society. Yet the Fascist eagle also holds a wider cosmological and metaphysical significance, its meanings diverse and complex. A full understanding of its symbolism necessitates a perspective extending beyond the narrow confines of politics and modern historiography.
Within traditional Greco-Roman mythology, the eagle is the attribute and messenger of the supreme god Zeus-Jupiter, as are the thunderbolt and the fasces. A distinctly Olympic symbol, the eagle embodies order, sovereignty, civilization and law in opposition to the primordial, chaotic and undifferentiated forces of the Titans. This symbolism further extends into the medieval tradition, where the eagle, representing active justice and worldly authority, is seen as a necessary counterbalance to the Cross, representing passive faith and spiritual compassion:
“Crazy is he who is about to conquer the superior states of being without the Eagle and the Cross, while humanity is lost and, despite having the virtue of the cross, is deprived of the justice of the eagle.” – Dante Alighieri, c. 1321
68 x 104 x 24.8 cm
