This image reproduces a youthful drawing, now lost, by Cleto Capponi (Ascoli Piceno, 1912 - Grottammare, 2000), a versatile artist who later in his career dedicated himself mainly to sculpture, painting and ceramic art. It is one of the most evocative depictions of Primo Carnera (Sequals, 1906-1967), the Friulian boxer who was the first Italian to claim the title of heavyweight world champion. He achieved this feat by defeating the reigning champion, Jack Sharkey, with a knockout in the sixth round on June 29, 1933, during a match held on Long Island.
Published in the newspaper “Il Messaggero” in January 1934, the portrait coincides with the height of Carnera’s sporting glory, a relatively short-lived period (as he lost the title in June of that year and was unable to regain it) during which Fascism sought to turn him into a nationalist symbol, linking the athlete’s extraordinary physical strength to the regime’s pursuit of power. Various works bear witness of this exaltation of the prowess of the Italian boxer, including a notable portrait of Primo Carnera painted by Giacomo Balla in 1933 (Rome, Cerasi Collection), and the statue depicting the boxer’s attributes placed in the Stadio dei Marmi at the Foro Italico in Rome.
Alongside this image of unyielding and super-masculine strength, however, there existed an entirely different iconography of Carnera – that of the “gentle giant” – which drew upon the purity and kindness of this man standing over 2 metres tall and weighing 126 kilograms. Such a unique blend of warmth and vigour, innocence and grandeur, captured the hearts of audiences from various countries, including numerous artists who, emphasising his reassuring smile, sought to underline the gentleness of the “Walking Mountain” (one of his nicknames). The most famous artistic portrayal of Carnera’s smiling countenance appeared on October 5, 1931, on the cover of the New York magazine TIME.
One of the distinctive features of Capponi’s artwork is his skill in bringing together the two tendencies just described. Moderately caricatured, with a degree of anatomical disproportion decreasing from bottom to top, the boxer’s profile presents itself with a broad and benevolent smile; however, simultaneously, the enormous jaw and bull-like neck convey a sense of raw strength. The invisibility of the eye adds an additional layer of ambiguity, not allowing us to fully discern whether the colossus is more inclined towards a caress or a punch.
Similarly, in relation to the style adopted by the young artist, a rare equilibrium is evident, as the artwork successfully harmonises the characteristic simplification and geometrization of Futurist portraiture with the physical resemblance found in traditional portraiture. Rather than depicting a flat face with only a few essential lines, as was the practice of several Futurist painters of that era, Capponi establishes an initial framework and progressively adds distinct lines, geometric planes and chiaroscuro areas. This approach results in a distinctive interpretation of both the formal canons of Futurism and a theme beloved by 20th-century artistic avant-gardes: boxing.