GENTILE VISITATORE

Filiberto Sbardella

(Palestrina, October 30, 1909 – Rome, December 28, 1983)

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1. Origins and Education. Filiberto Sbardella was born in Palestrina, near Rome, on October 30, 1909. From a young age, he approached the arts, entering the studio of Orientalist Gustavo Simoni at just 14 years old, and later studying under Tito Venturini Papari. He won early awards in watercolor painting and participated in both collective and solo exhibitions in Rome, San Remo, Pesaro, and Savona. He later moved to Milan, where he attended and graduated from the Brera Academy, consolidating his artistic training and beginning a career in mosaic, mural painting, and interior decoration.

2. Artistic Activity in the 1920s–1930s. Between the late 1920s and 1930s, Sbardella developed an intense career as a painter, mosaic artist, and mural decorator:

- Mosaics and decorations for the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Graffignana (Lodi) and the Temple of the Fallen in San Pellegrino Terme (Bergamo).

- Civil decoration works, including the Reposi Cinema in Savona and Palazzo Visconti di Mondrone in Milan.

- Participation in prestigious exhibitions, such as the VI and VII Milan Triennale and the XX Venice Biennale.

Although influenced by Italian avant-garde masters such as Mario Sironi, Enrico Prampolini, and Renato Guttuso, he developed a distinctive personal style recognized by critics.

3. The Resistance and Civic Engagement. With the outbreak of World War II, Sbardella interrupted his artistic activity. In 1943, he returned to Rome and joined the Communist Movement of Italy (MCd’I), also known as “Red Flag”, one of the main partisan groups in the capital.

- He became a member of the executive committee and, together with Antonio Poce, founded in January 1944 an armed group called “Red Army”.

- He participated in clandestine printing and sabotage operations against Nazi-fascist forces.

- On March 24, 1944, during the Fosse Ardeatine massacre, he attempted to intervene by writing a letter to the German diplomat Eugen Dollmann to halt the executions.

After the Liberation, he continued his civil and political commitment within ANPI, the CGIL, and the Italian Communist Party, also contributing to partisan magazines such as Voce Partigiana and Movimento Nuovo.

4. Post-War Artistic and Architectural Activity (1950s–1980s). After the war, Sbardella resumed his artistic career and expanded into design, architecture, and urban planning.

- He contributed to film set design, including the movie Theodora, Empress of Byzantium (1954).

- He earned a degree in architecture and began designing residential buildings, schools, sports facilities, and party offices: PEEP complex in the Labaro district of Rome; Regional government headquarters in Pesaro; CGIL Trade Union School in Ariccia (Rome); International consultancy projects in Sofia and Moscow

He collaborated with prominent architects and designers, including Giò Ponti, Piero Fornasetti, and Bruno Begnotti. In 1973, he participated in the international exhibition “Domus: 45 ans d’architecture, design, art” at the Louvre in Paris.

5. Main Works and Recognitions.

- Religious mosaics and decorations: Church of Saints Peter and Paul (Graffignana), Temple of the Fallen (San Pellegrino Terme);

- Civil decorations: Reposi Cinema (Savona), Palazzo Visconti di Mondrone (Milan);

- Architectural projects: Villa Corbin and Villa Fischer in Castiglioncello, Regional Government Headquarters in Pesaro, PEEP Labaro (Rome);

- Exhibitions: Milan Triennales, Venice Biennale, solo exhibition “March 24, 1953” dedicated to the martyrs of the Fosse Ardeatine.

In recent decades, his work has been rediscovered through traveling exhibitions such as “The Earth Belongs to Those Who Cultivate It – The 20th Century of Filiberto Sbardella”.

6. Final Years and Death. Filiberto Sbardella passed away in Rome on December 28, 1983. He is remembered as a multifaceted figure of 20th-century Italy, integrating art, architecture, and civic commitment.

7. Legacy and Significance. Sbardella’s life and work represent a synthesis of artistic, political, and social engagement:

- Artist: preserving the tradition of mosaic, mural painting, and interior decoration in 20th-century Italy;

- Partisan: an example of courage and civic responsibility during the Roman Resistance;

- Architect and urban planner: designer of social housing and functional public spaces;

- Intellectual: active in magazines, committees, and cultural-political associations.

He remains a reference figure for studying 20th-century Italian art, both for his eclectic personal style and for his integration of art and civic engagement.