Giuseppe Scalarini

Ignis Ardens, 1903 pencil and ink on yellow paper 32,5 x 25 cm Original illustration created by Scalarini in 1903 for the illustrated weekly magazine Merlin Cocai. << In the third pit of hell the simoniacs and traffickers of sacred things are punished. They are stuck, upside down, in holes, with their legs out and the soles of their feet lit. Here they come to get the ignis ardens. >> "He is the most political of Italian caricaturists and perhaps in the world. Synthesis is the basis of his thought and his cruel design. (...) His caricature is poison, it is death. Looking at these great works I get scared Scalarini is a caricaturist who will go down in history" (Emilio Zanzi). Provenance: Caramba collection (Luigi Sapelli). Several folds. Signed and dated.