Flavio Favelli's 'Gli Angeli degli Eroi' Explores Art, Politics, and Military Monuments

Flavio Favelli (born 1967, Florence) has published a new artist's book, 'Gli angeli degli eroi - un caso di arte e politica in Italia' (Castelvecchi, series Fuoriuscita edited by Christian Caliandro). The 60-page volume traces the genesis and reception of his 2015 work 'Gli Angeli degli Eroi,' originally conceived as a mural listing Italian soldiers killed in peace missions, to be installed in an underpass. Instead, the work was presented at MAXXI in Rome during the exhibition 'Architettura in uniforme' (curated by Anna Mattirolo) as nine black panels with names in gold, measuring 2 by 12.5 meters. On November 4, 2015, Armed Forces Day, the work was moved to Piazza del Quirinale for a national ceremony broadcast on state TV, attended by President Sergio Mattarella, military officials, and victims' families. Favelli intended a counter-monument, but the work was co-opted by state power. The book recounts the artist's contradictions: a conscientious objector fascinated by military aesthetics, his grandfather's military service, and a traumatic visit to Predappio. Cecilia Canziani's afterword clarifies the work was a maquette, not a monument. The project later faced bureaucratic obstacles and political resistance from both left and right, with a proposed underpass installation in Bologna rejected as 'inopportune.'