Foro Italico

Book excerpt: In preparation for the 1944 Olympic Games, canceled due to W.W.II, Mussolini commissioned 60 eighteen-foot Herculean statues of white marble to surround his new arena. Hauntingly erotic, these statues were once relegated to the category of political kitsch, but have in recent times been recognised as objects of poetic beauty and merit. For twenty years Mott's b/w images of these statues have been sought by collectors and used by fashion and art directors. Now, they are available together at last in this deluxe edition, featuring an introduction by Giorgio Armani.