Grande Italia (1860 to 1930)

What follows is, in part, a concise biography of the life and works of Alessandro Castellani. 

It is also a brief account of the unification of Italy and some ideologies at play; ideologies which, while seemingly emancipatory, laid the groundwork for 20th century Italian and European fascism; ideologies which visibly fed back into the astonishing craftsmanship of Castellani.   

Two themes will be brought more sharply into focus:  

1. the relentless nature of Alessandro Castellani’s character, evidenced through his unwavering professional and political activity from the mid-1850s onward;  
2.  the political ideology of Guiseppi Mazzini, often described as Romantic Nationalism, but who might also be seen as "proto-fascist". 

The aim is not, in some naive act of ‘liberal’ hysteria, to melodramatically cry “fascist!” - “cancelling”, “deplatforming” etc. etc. - but rather to show how, as a Scottish poet once wrote, “the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley”. 

After walking this path from Castellani, through Mazzini, to Mussolini, the reader might ponder this question: when he bequeathed his family’s legacy to Mussolini’s state, did Alfredo Castellani believe that such a bequest was what his predecessors would have wanted?

The CAST

The Castellani Firm: Naples, Paris, London

Alessandro Castellani: Travelling antiquarian, archaeologist, exiled revolutionary.

Giacinto Melillo: Alessandro's apprentice 

Carlo Giuliano: Alessandro's apprentice

The Army of "The Thousand"

Giuseppi Garibaldi: Revolutionary general 

Jessie "Hurricane" White Mario: Medic, journalist, author    

Political Operators

Giuseppi Mazzini: Father of Italian unification movement, now destitute and exiled in London  

King Victor Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy:  Father of Italian unification directing revolutionary armies in the war efforts  

General Gabriele D'Annunzio, Prince of Montenevoso: Poet and ultra-nationalist veteran of World War One 

Benidito Mussolini: Grandfather and great-grandfather of several members of Italy’s governing political party as of 2022.

The most dangerous man in Europe.

On the 12th of September 1919, thirsty for a fight, General Gabriele D'Annunzio, Prince of Montenevoso, mustered a private army and invaded the city of Fiume (modern-day Croatia), ejecting French and British occupying forces. In his hallmark flamboyant style, D'Annunzio and his 'Dali-esque' moustache took to a balcony before the people of Fiume, screamed Achilles’s ancient war-cry “Eja Eja Alalà!”, and proclaimed himself Comandante of the region. He renamed it the Italian Regency of Carnaro and set about co-authoring its constitution. A short while later, he fell out of a window. Pushed, or intoxicated, we may never know. Regardless, D'Annunzio’s imperial escapades were short-lived.¹  

It’s an amusing story, but it’s also relevant: the key is the idea of irredentism. Guiseppe Mazzini and his followers - many of whom came to hold political office - believed in the idea of ITALIA IRREDENTA (unredeemed Italy): territories where italian is spoken, where italians live, which can historically be claimed as Italian must be redeemed for the nation of Italy. This concept of “Grande Italia” flourished under fascism and came to include parts of North Africa, the Balkans, and modern day France and Greece². And yes, there are ongoing conflicts today that would best be described as “irredentist”. 

It may not be surprising to learn that for his radical ideas, Mazzini - frequently glorified as  “The Soul of Italy” - has also been described as “Chief of the Assassins”, “proto-fascist” and “the most dangerous man in Europe”. D'Annunzio himself saw his “Fiume Endeavour” as an expression of Italian patriotism and irredentism.  

We celebrate today the feast of the Spirit, in the glory of Fiume and in the glory of that young lion of Italy   

Gabriele D'Annunzio (1919) ³

The Third Rome  

A reminder:  

 

The year is 1850, 

Garibaldi and Mazzini’s new, revolutionary Roman Republic has fallen. 

Garibaldi’s forces are in retreat.  

The Pope and clerical authority have returned to Rome, imprisoning Alessandro Castellani and his patron The Marquis of Campana, and sending Mazzini into exile. 

The firm, ‘Castellani of Rome’, is closed; its founder, Fortunato Pio Castellani, has retired… 

Alessandro was released from prison in the mid 1850s, but he, like his ideological leader Mazzini, was exiled from Rome. Starting afresh in Naples, but soon on the move again, Alessandro travelled to France and England, taking the Castellani name and his political revolution abroad. Despite constant travelling - visiting countless excavations around Italy, Greece, and (it is thought) in southern Russia, (tomb of Kul Oba) -  the Naples period might be Castellani’s most prolific. Inspired as always by archaeological encounters, this period saw the creation of iconic pieces that would travel the world, several of which would be shown at the Philadelphia International Exhibition of 1976.⁴

1. Gold necklace, c1870, after Greek excavations in southern Russia; shown in Philadelphia and Paris International exhibitions.
2. Gold owl head brooch,1860s
3. Gold and Glass bead necklace with heads of Io, displayed at Philadelphia exhibition, dated "before 1876". 

In the late 1850s, Carlo Giuliano and Giacinto Melillo were working in Alessandro’s new workshop in Naples. They were disciples of their employer to whose craftsmanship and learning they clearly owe a great debt. Bracelets by Melillo and Castellani show distinct similarities. A pair of Melillo’s earrings were, like the bracelets, inspired by pieces from The Campana Collection (see pieces below), and were first thought to be Alessandro Castellani’s work. 

More from the Naples period: 1. Bracelets by Castellani; 2. Bracelets by Melillo; 3. Earrings by Melillo 

By around 1860 Alessandro had opened branches in Paris - on the Champ Elysees - and on Frith Street in London where Giuliano would soon make his name. 

There appears to be some uncertainty about the significance of Giuliano’s maker’s mark from the Frith Street branch. 

He signs with ‘CG’ as initials. But also signs, according to Geoffrey Munn, ‘CG’ back-to-back ⁵. Munn writes: 

Jewels bearing this mark have been seen to have a Giuliano of London provenance… think of it as an earlier mark… used while he was still under the influence of the Castellanis. 

Finally, however ‘CG’ also appears alongside ‘CC’⁶, for example on his Head of Achelous pendant (compare below with Castellani’s version). The back-to-back letters (reminiscent of ‘CC’ of Castellani) on some works and the presence of ‘CC’ plus ‘GC’ on others would seem to indicate, as Munn suggests, that Giuliano was acknowledging - paying his respects to - the Castellani firm, which…  

...passed the art on to Carlo Giuliano and greatly influenced his work.⁷

1. Necklace by Giuliano 
2. "CG" initials, maker's mark on the necklace by Giuliano
3. Achelous (Greek Deity) pendant by Giuliano (c.1865)
4. Achelous pendant by Castellani 

…Meanwhile, back in Italy …  

Guiseppi Garibaldi’s army was mobilising again, this time from Genoa. Jessie White Mario, a Hampshire english-women, journalist and medic, and her Italian husband joined the army which would soon march on Naples.  

During the summer of 1860, this army (“The Thousand') harnessed uprisings across southern Italy. The south, The Kingdom of two Sicilies under the Bourbon King Ferdinand (Sicily and Naples), soon fell to “The Thousand'' who found support and new recruits at each stage of their advance. Alessandro Castellani financed such expeditions and uprisings later in the 1860s. ⁸

In October, “The Thousand” entered Naples and Victor Emmanuel II was declared King of Italy with Rome as his capital… but Rome remained under Papal control. Victor Emmanuel seems to have been giving a statement of intent on the future of the Papal States…  

 …Later, in England…

Alessandro Castellani sent a similar message to the Papal States from the London International Exhibition of Industry and Art where he was successfully stealing the show and the headlines for himself. The Times newspaper at the time of the exhibition read… 

Every traveller who has been at Rome has seen, and every one who has not been at Rome has heard of, Castellani's extensive and magnificent establishment.⁹ 

Alessandro refused to exhibit the Castellani collection alongside Roman artists. Rome was under a clerical, absolutist regime resisting the tides of Romantic Nationalism. Defiant, Alessandro instead set up in the “Italian section”. Gere and Rudoe, in their review “Jewellery at the London Exhibition”, describe the Castellani firm’s … 

…bold scheme to promote the cause of unification… reproducing Italian jewellery, from the Bronze Age to the present day, they created a vision of a unified Italy and its history through jewellery. ¹⁰

Alessandro portrayed this impassioned vision with...

… enormous caskets containing all the jewels that an Etruscan, Roman or Byzantine lady might need, carefully separated into different caskets for the different periods”¹¹

The Art Journal commented: 

This exquisite jewellery may be truly said to write, in a graphic style peculiar to itself, a chapter of Roman history in letters of gold. It is a vivid, visible, tangible commentary on Horace and Juvenal and Tacitus, such as may be pronounced unique¹² 

Gere and Rudoe again refer to The Times newspaper: 

 Castellani reproduces with the fidelity of an antiquarian…  Castellani's works are fit for a museum. ¹³

Alessandro, though exiled from Rome, was masterfully painting the city, its history and its future in his (and Mazzini’s) image:  

 After the Rome of the Caesars, after the Rome of the Popes, there will come the Rome of the people  

...Mazzini had said. And this was a view that inspired Alessandro’s work as archaeologist and antiquarian. 

Roman imperial eagle, gold brooch, c.1860, displayed at London Exhibition: Alessandro refused to share a space with the Papal States, instead portraying Rome as the capital of a unified Italy.

One author has reflected that the Castellanis have become “part of the heritage to which they only wished to pay homage.”¹⁴ The author was talking about Etruscan heritage. The Castellani name is inseparable from Etruscan archaeology: the Etruscan Museum in Italy also contains a collection of Castellani jewellery; the British museum has 3,018 objects purchased from Alessandro Castellani, including excavated Roman and Etruscan ceramics and adornments as well as revivalist jewellery by Castellani.  

But I would go further: yes, one can hardly separate the Etruscan and the Castellani - literally in some cases where they are soldered together (the British museum description of the piece below reads: "the cage-like construction of the scarab mounts, formed of two fine twisted wires joined to the base by rosettes, suggests a nineteenth-century origin").

But neither can one separate the archaeological from the political revolution. Alessandro’s “homage” is very clearly to both.

Photos 1-3. Castellani interventions, or restorations, of ancient pieces: ancient scarabs embedded in "cages" by Castellani . This necklace, like other 'ancient' adornments, may have been "assembled" from disparate Etruscan pieces dating from the 5th Century BC, according to the British museum. 

Digestif

“In proving foresight may be vain:

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men

Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,

 For promis’d joy!”

Alessandro died in Rome, the capital city of the unified Kingdom of Italy, in June of 1883. He had returned in 1870 after the fall of the Papal Authority and after almost two decades in exile. 

Mazzini, too, saw his country unified before his death, but in 1872 wrote:   

 I thought I was awakening the soul of Italy, and I see only the corpse before me.¹⁵ 

Mazzini had fought for a republic, not for a parliamentary monarchy. And Italy suffered great class divisions between North and South, political rivalries between liberals and the radicals, and Italy’s “unredeemed territories” still did not form part of the unified nation.  

When Jessie “Hurricane” White Mario  - Garibaldi’s personal medic and friend of Mazzini since his ‘down-and-out’ days in London (and biographer of both) - arrived in Naples in 1860 with the victorious “Thousand”, she concentrated on what she is most celebrated for today: writing and journalism. While certain sections of the Italian population celebrated unification, Jessie White Mario was writing The Poor in Naples:  

 …it was affirmed by the "authorities" that, of the entire population of the city, two-thirds had no recognized means of livelihood ; no one knew how more than a quarter of a million human beings lived, still less where they passed their lives of privation, pain, and wretchedness ; or how, when death ended all, their bodies were flung down to rot together in foul charnel holes, far away and apart from the holy ground where the upper third were laid to rest ¹⁶

Most of her work was published posthumously - her blow-by-blow, intricate and extensive, first-hand accounts of the Risorgimento, for example. But, before her death a decade later, her essay on Naples was published in a collection in 1895. The only woman to appear on the contents page is Jessie White Mario. 

She was criticised for her pessimistic take on unified Italy.¹⁷  

But Mazzini had fervently believed that, in service of the nation, all Italians must work together: the destitute alongside the nobles, liberals and entrepreneurs. He rejected the leftist notion of class struggle in favour of “class collaboration”:      

Your country is the sign of the Mission God has given you… to labour towards a common aim… Where there is not a common Principle, recognised, accepted, and developed by all, there is no true Nation, no People ¹⁸  

As with his ‘irredentist’ views, Mazzini’s critique of class struggle reverberates throughout 20th Century fascism: “Class collaboration” gave way to what is known as “corporatism”, or “corporativism”: a socio-economic model utilised “in one manner or another by all fascist regimes”¹⁹. First, Mazzini insisted that Italians should renounce the pursuit of their own interests - political, economic, or rights-related - to further the cause of nation-building; then, Mussolini violently repressed those interests. Trade unions were forced into 'corporations' overseen by oppressive industrialist allies to further the cause of nation-building:  

Fascism, through corporativism, sought to concentrate all power and direction in the hands of the state . . . . [It] became a doctrine of absolutism, the repression of dissent, the abolition of bargaining power and of aggressive economic expansion²⁰ 

In the decade prior to his death, Alfredo Castellani - son of Augusto, nephew of Alessandro - would have witnessed the following developments in Italy before bequeathing the work of his forebears to the state:  

1. In 1919, he would have seen in the newspapers a young journalist - Beneditto Mussolini - jubilantly reporting on General Gabriele D’Annunzio’s army (“the Arditi”) capturing Fiume, bringing it under the banner of Great Italy: "With the First World War ending in disappointment for Italy, it was left to D'Annunzio's revolutionary march to finish the national revolution started by the national hero, Garibaldi."²¹ 

1. In 1922, he would have seen how this journalist - now leader of the “National Fascist Party' - became Prime Minister: for two years, Mussolini’s militias (the “Blackshirts”, an off-shoot of “the Arditi”) had been attacking socialists and striking workers. Mussolini entered Rome with 30,000 Blackshirts and, through intimidation and the support of the military, was handed control of public authorities by the third King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III. ²²

The Castellani legacy is one of enlightened polymaths: archaeologists, businessmen, skilled artisans and innovative technicians of their art, and - in the first years of the Kingdom of Italy - public servants focused on the preservation of their country's national heritage. They have left their mark on the great museums of the western world; on the modern and ancient history of their country and on the fields of archaeology, art history, and jewellery-making. The ideology they breathed into their work was not that of twentieth century fascists. Indeed, Mazzini’s ideas equally served as inspiration for anti-fascists who, when they too found themselves exiled from Mussolini's Italy, chose - as the Risorgimento had done - to resist the power of absolutist leaders. So, might it just be one of history’s cruelest ironies then, that - when Michaelangelo Caetani Duke of Sermoenta, invited a modest Roman goldsmith and his 13-year old son to watch the unearthing of the remains of their splendidly entombed and adorned Etruscan ancestors - the Castellani firm, still in its infancy, was unwittingly embarking upon a century long excavation, not of “the Soul of Italy”, but of her corpse? 

Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me! 

The present only toucheth thee: 

But Och! I backward cast my e’e, 

On prospects drear! An’ forward tho’ I canna see, 

I guess an’ fear! 

Robert Burns “To a Mouse…” (1785)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

From “Castellani and Italian Archaeological Jewellery” (Soros and Walker):

• DAVIS, JOHN A.; “Rome during the Castellani Century”  

From “The Connoisseur” (Geoffrey Munn) Castellani, Melillo, and Giuliano  

• https://wartski.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Giacinto-Melillo-The-Connoiseur-1977.pdf 
• https://wartski.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/The-Giuliano-Family-The-Connoisseur-1975.pdf 
• https://wartski.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Jewels-by-Castellani-The-Connoisseur-1981.pdf 

International Exhibitions, London and Philadelphia: 

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/382021513_Jewellery_at_the_1862_Exhibition
• https://ia802905.us.archive.org/2/items/masterpiecesofc02shin/masterpiecesofc02shin.pdf 

Fascism, Irredentism and Fiume:  

• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/nana.12583 
• http://marxismo21.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fascism-and-the-Far_Right.pdf 

Jessie White Mario: 

•  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/22/jessie-white-italy-unification-anniversary 
• WHITE MARIO; JESSIE, “The Poor in Naples”: https://archive.org/details/the-poor-in-naples 

Giuseppi Mazzini:  

• MAZZINI, GIUSEPPI,"The Duties of Man": https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.190450 
•  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giuseppe-Mazzini 

Robert Burns: 

• Full text of “To a mouse…” with english version:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_a_Mouse

REFERENCES

1. https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/people-politics/why-do-we-say-excuse-my-french/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_irredentism#/media/File:Grande_Italia.jpg
3. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/nana.12583 pg.667
4. “Masterpieces of the Centennial International Exhibition; Volume II”, pg.297- 301: https://ia802905.us.archive.org/2/items/masterpiecesofc02shin/masterpiecesofc02shin.pdf
5. MUNN, GEOFFREY, https://wartski.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Jewels-by-Castellani-The-Connoisseur-1981.pdf (fig 16)
6. MUNN, GEOFFREY, https://wartski.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/The-Giuliano-Family-The-Connoisseur-1975.pdf (fig. 5 and 6)
7. ibid
8. DAVIS, JOHN A., “Rome during the Castellani Century”, pg.28
9. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/382021513_Jewellery_at_the_1862_Exhibition
10. ibid.
11. GERE, CHARLOTTE and RUDOE, JUDY; “Jewellery at the 1862 Exhibition”
12. ibid
13. ibid
14. MUNN, GEOFFREY, https://wartski.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Jewels-by-Castellani-The-Connoisseur-1981.pdf
15. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giuseppe-Mazzini
16. WHITE MARIO, JESSIE; "The Poor in Naples", pg.1
17. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/22/jessie-white-italy-unification-anniversary
18. MAZZINI, GIUSEPPE; "Duties of Man", pg.61
19. http://marxismo21.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Fascism-and-the-Far_Right.pdf
20. ibid.
21. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/nana.12583 pg.668
22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Rome