On the occasion of the centenary of the Vittoriale, we resume the interview on the subject with the historian Marco Cimmino, edited by our friends at Verticale-Blog.

1) At the Vittoriale there is not only the imprint of the style of one of the great spirits of Italy, but almost the trace of a manifesto of life, of a declaration to the world. Could you try to explain to us better what it is about?

The Vittoriale is the plastic representation of an idea: not of an idea of ​​a house, but of a vision of things, of a precise Worldview. Originally, Villa Maroni was a beautiful house on the hill, like many on the shores of Garda: Gabriele D'Annunzio transformed it into a "total" place. Museum and good retreat, mausoleum and cultural center: in a certain sense, he modeled the house as if it were his own body, organizing its ceremonies, up to his funeral bed. But he did not conceive of it as his own: it was a place in Italy and to Italy he would return. It was also a prison, in a certain sense: as his aged body imprisoned his soul, eternally young. D'Annunzio lends himself to excessive interpretations, for better or for worse: the Vittoriale, beyond the symbolic and sometimes extravagant aspects, is above all the laboratory of a great intellectual and a tireless worker. The substance of D'Annunzio, as much as the Capponcina was its appearance. In short, there you can meet a less extreme, less exhibited D'Annunzio: a poet and a writer dedicated to his own toil with great method and commitment. The D'Annunzio that less aware people do not even imagine.

 

2) Today's visitor, the "simple people" we could simplify, is still astonished by the atmosphere that reigns in that very particular place. What does it take to fully understand the Vittoriale?

In truth, a bit of everything comes to the Vittoriale: the definition of “simple people” risks being misleading. Certainly, curious people come there and, all things considered, fascinated by the figure of the poet: to these people the Vittoriale offers extraordinary suggestions, even if, perhaps, not always authentic. In short, they find what they wanted to find there. But there are also the Sunday slackers or, even worse, the show-offs who think they know a lot because they have read “Pastori d'Abruzzo” and “La pioggia nel pineto”: those who explain to their girlfriends the story of the Mascheraio or that of the sawn-off rib. D'Annunzio's rubbish, so to speak: cultural rudeness, which still afflicts schools, for example. I believe that, to understand the Vittoriale, assuming that one can, one must visit it with a pure spirit: free from prejudice. Look for the daily D'Annunzio: the one of the small rituals, not the one of the cheli or the crazy water. And let yourself be pervaded by the greatness of his vision, by his magnificent freedom, by his inexhaustible courage. We too are free and, for a moment, we too are magnificent.

3) That “I disobey!” thundered in the days of Fiume is still there, with its load of revolution and dream. Let's try to understand what was behind that slogan?

First of all, there is a Garibaldi who does not bend: there is an indomitable republican. Fiume had, in a certain sense, drugged D'Annunzio: he had transported him into a mystical dimension of history. And no one, not the King nor Mussolini nor, much less Giolitti or the "cagoia", could have distracted him from that dream that was almost an opiate vision. In his disobedience there is all of D'Annunzio: intolerant of rules, an individual among individuals, an adventurer without fortune, a knight errant. And his will to distinguish himself, very strong. Also for this reason I find the controversies about the alleged D'Annunzio fascism ridiculous: D'Annunzio would never have admitted a Duce who was not himself. And, therefore, the anarchist and the soldier, day and night, mix in that disobbedisco: it is the answer to the mediocrity and conformism of a free man, who does not bend before anyone ukaze, but who kneels before the Tricolour and the Fatherland. A humble, very proud, infantryman.

Interview a Marco Cimino
Source: The Saboteur – 18/11/2021