(Perugia 1910–1980 Brugherio)
Apoteosi di Francesco Baracca, signed, dated A. Bruschetti 1936, inscribed with, ‘... non vuol pianto nè rimpianto...’, oil on wooden panel, 70 x 50 cm, framed, (PP)

Provenance:
Collection G. De Lunghi, Milan
Private Collection, Bologna
Private Collection, Europe

Exhibition:
Perugia, Futuristi Ritratti e Autoritratti Futuristi, Palazzo Penna, 2010 (no catalogue)

Literature:
Franco Passoni, Massimo Duranti, Antonio Carlo Ponti, Alessandro Bruschetti, Dal Futurismo alla pittura purilumetrica, Umbria Editrice, page 140, no. 9 with ill.;
Alessandro Bruschetti, Futurismo aeropittorico e purilumetria, opere 1928–1979, Gangemi, Rome 2009, page 48, no. XLII with ill. (curated by Massimo Duranti/essays by various authors)

When one sees a cavallino rampante, a small rearing horse, one thinks immediately of Ferrari and Formula 1. The world famous trademark – today a small black horse on a yellow ground with the letters, S F standing for Scuderia Ferrari and the colours of the Italian flag – enjoyed great popularity even as early as the heyday of military aviation. The Italian Major Francesco Baracca chose the animal as his personal insignia and painted it on the sides of the planes he flew on his sorties during World War 1. After Baracca’s early death (he was killed in 1918 when flying low over Montello), his mother, Duchess Paolina, decided to present the small horse to Enzo Ferrari as a symbol of good luck in his motor racing. On using the symbol for the first time in 1932, Ferrari won the 24-hour race in Spa. Ferrari had the small horse redesigned by Eligio Gerosa in 1945.