This inscription (1938) is located on the left pier of the façade of the building of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences – originally the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry – of the University of Padua (Via Marzolo 5). The building was constructed as part of the university renovation works under the rectorship of Carlo Anti (1889–1961). It was based on a design by architect Giuseppe Merlo between 1935 and 1936. The interior furnishings were completed in 1937 (Mameli 1938: 26–27). Initially, the inscription was absent and was added in 1938.

The author of the text is Concetto Marchesi. Among his papers is a letter dated 31 October 1937 addressed to Anti, who had requested him to draft an inscription for the School of Chemistry and Pharmacy, set to be inaugurated by Mussolini. Marchesi subsequently proposed three versions of a possible inscription to Anti, which he described as epigrafe classica (classical epigraph), epigrafe barbara (barbarian epigraph, i.e. with a text similar to Italian phraseology), and epigrafe grassa (‘fat’ epigraph, referring to the richness and abundance of the text) (Franceschini: 354–355). The first text closely resembles the one that was eventually realized, although it is simplified compared to the original draft.

The epigraph is inscribed in Roman capitals. Some letters were ruined as a result of the text being covered with plaster, which gradually has eroded due to weathering (see the word Universitatis in the first line), but the text remains clearly legible. Notably, only the name Benitus Mussolini is rubricated in red.

The inscription commemorates the foundation of the new building and its inauguration in the presence of Benito Mussolini. On the mentioned date – 25 September 1938 – Mussolini was in Padua and visited the new university quarter on Via Marzolo, where he paused for several minutes at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry (Anonymous 1939: 330).

Of particular interest is the dating formula post Christum natum, which has parallels in other Latin inscriptions from the Fascist period (see the inscription formerly at the entrance of the Rectorate of the University of Rome, as well as the explicit of the Codex Fori Mussolini). The abbreviation for Christum is especially notable; it is written in capitals as CHΡ, where the final letter is not a Latin p but a Greek rho (ρ). While this abbreviation is uncommon in inscriptions of the period, it echoes the manner in which Christ’s name was abbreviated in medieval manuscripts and inscriptions (known as Christograms).

Bibliography

Anonymous. 1938. R. Università degli Studi di Padova. Annuario per l’Anno Accademico 1938-39 DCCXVII dalla fondazione XVII dalla restituzione dei fasci. Padova: Tipografia del Seminario di Padova, 330.

Franceschini, Ezio. 1978. ‘Marchesi Epigrafista’. In Concetto Marchesi. Linee per l’interpretazione di un uomo inquieto. Padova: Antenore, 354–355.

Mameli, Efisio. 1938. ‘L’Istituto di chimica farmaceutica e tossicologia dell’Università di Padova’. Padova. Rassegna mensile del Comune, XI 1 (January): 13–28.

Lorenzo Di Simone