Il colosso di Rodi. Papagallo No. 41. Anno V.

Satirical plate published in the supplement to the political newspaper charivaric Papagallo / Le Perroquet N. 41, in the 5th year of publication, published in Bologna. The title and the caption are in Italian.

Translation of the legend: "The colossus of Rodes." History, do you see, my children? ... Your ancestors also told you that we could not have the freedom of the Dardanelles ... It is the same today and maybe it will last a long time ... Now it's the colossus, in the future it will be its demolisher who will make obstacles. "
The plate showing a John Bull mid-Corsican, half colossus of Rhodes holding in the left hand a barrel of powder ready to explode and in the right hand a bag of sterling pounds, in one pocket a boat symbolizing the navy, in the other a cannon.
John Bull is positioned on a map of the Mediterranean with one foot on each side of the Dardanelles Strait. At the foot of the colossus, a woman symbolizing history teaches Greeks, Slavonic, Americans, Chinese, Abyssinians and Europeans the story (Dardanelles).

This plate depicts an episode of the Russo-Turkish War with a threatening John Bull, guardian of the Dardanelles Strait. The advance of the Russian troops against the Ottomans will bring the English fleet to position itself in the Strait.

Taken from the Italian satirical newspaper "Il Papagallo", a satirical magazine founded in January 1873 by Augusto Grossi (1835-1919), which specialized in color-printed caricatures like this one. At its peak circulation reached 50,000, and in 1878 a Parisian version, 'Le Perroquet', and London edition, 'The Parrot', were launched. 'Il Papagallo' closed in 1915, when Grossi was 70 years old.

More about Augusto Grossi and Il Papagallo. [+]