The essay presents copy and analysis of the unpublished letters between Napoleone Martinuzzi and Gabriele
d’Annunzio in the years 1917-1933, which are kept in the archives of Il Vittoriale degli Italiani in Gardone
Riviera (Brescia), last residence of the Poet.
The study of these letters has pointed out the relationship between the artist and the poet and the deep interest
of d’Annunzio in modern sculpture and the works that he commssioned Martinuzzi. In particular, the
design of the mausoleum for the poet’s mother, Luisa d’Annunzio, which had first to be built in Pescara and
later on the “Colle delle Arche” at Il Vittoriale. The idea of the mausoleum, which was never realized, was an
important characteristic of the long and deep relationship of Martinuzzi and d’Annunzio. In 1925 Martinuzzi
became artistic director at Venini in Murano and supplied Il Vittoriale with fantastic glass objects (sculptures,
lamps, vases, glasses); he shaped, for the poet, the small Vittoria, still in Jugendstil (1919), the Canefora/
Pomona, the huge bronze sculpture which follows the style of Arturo Martini, and the Busto – ritratto di
Michelangelo. These works reveal who influenced him: first Angelo Zanelli, then Ivan Mestrovic and finally
Arturo Martini.
