Italian Propaganda Poster: Su loro ricade la colpa! — Scholarly Analysis
Extended scholarly study of "Italian Propaganda Poster: Su loro ricade la colpa!" (accession JCA.2026.117): material analysis, authentication methodology, comparative works, and bibliography.
Extended description
JCA.2026.117 is the Italian wartime propaganda poster Su loro ricade la colpa! (“The blame falls on them!”), designed by Gino Boccasile during the final phase of the Second World War. The composition caricatures Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt as armed gangsters looming above a ruined city, civilian casualties, and a skull-and-crossbones flag. The imagery assigns responsibility for destruction and death to the Western Allies. The sheet measures approximately 70 × 50 cm and retains Boccasile's printed signature, with lower title and publication information preserved beneath the present framing mat.
Technical analysis
The object is a color print on paper, probably offset lithography, though microscopic process identification has not yet been undertaken. The complete sheet survives under framing with pronounced horizontal and vertical folds, creasing, abrasion, localized surface loss along folds, moderate toning, and handling wear. The dimensions, printed signature, image composition, and fold configuration are consistent with documented period examples of the design. The hidden lower margin should be photographed during any future reframing because it contains title and publication evidence.
Authentication methodology
Period attribution is based on the agreement of the approximately 70 × 50 cm sheet format, Boccasile signature, known composition, title, fold arrangement, and age-consistent paper deterioration with documented examples. The lower title and imprint remain physically present beneath the mat, strengthening confidence that the sheet has not been cropped into a later decorative reproduction. Microscopic examination of paper fibers and printing structure, together with verso documentation, would provide additional confirmation.
Comparative works
Documented examples of Boccasile's Su loro ricade la colpa! show the same caricatures of Churchill and Roosevelt, pistol imagery, skull-and-crossbones flag, ruined city, and civilian dead. Comparative examples place the design within Italian anti-British and anti-American propaganda of the 1943–1945 period. These parallels support the design and period attribution, while the individual sheet's paper, printing, and hidden imprint remain the basis for object-level authentication.
Provenance
The poster was acquired by the Joshua Cabinet of Antiquities; earlier ownership history is undocumented. No wartime distributor, building, individual owner, or collection history is presently associated with the sheet. The physical poster itself preserves the strongest evidence for publication identity through the Boccasile signature, full composition, dimensions, and concealed lower imprint/title area.
Historical context
The poster belongs to the anti-Allied propaganda environment of Fascist Italy and the Italian Social Republic, in which civilian suffering from bombing and the collapse of wartime infrastructure were framed as crimes of Britain and the United States. Boccasile's commercial-illustration style was adapted to political messaging through exaggerated physiognomy, gangster imagery, ruined urban space, and the pirate flag. The work is useful for studying how wartime propaganda personalized responsibility and converted strategic bombing into a moral accusation against enemy leaders.
Conservation history
The poster is complete but weakened by old folds and localized abrasion. It should remain behind UV-filtering glazing with acid-free backing and adequate separation from the glazing surface. Existing folds should not be forcibly flattened without professional paper-conservation assessment. Any future reframing should document the full lower margin, verso, watermarks if present, printer marks, and all edge losses before treatment. Pressure-sensitive tape, lamination, dry mounting, and aggressive surface cleaning should be avoided.
Bibliography
Gino Boccasile, Su loro ricade la colpa!, wartime Italian propaganda design, c. 1943–1945. Comparative image record associated with the Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library and other documented collections of Italian wartime propaganda. Scholarship on Gino Boccasile, Italian Social Republic visual propaganda, and anti-Allied poster production during 1943–1945.