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Abstract

Initially, Italian fascism embraced the development of modernism, but subsequently made a turn towards ancient Roman architecture models around 1934. What was the reason for this change, and what was fascism looking for in earlier periods? Focus on the center, malong with its reaction against modernism, aligns perfectly with the ideas of the conservative art historian Hans Sedlmayr, wherefore this paper argues that symmetry and central axis was emphasized over columns, arches, and ornaments. According to Sedlmayr, the center (Mitte) – the point where the divine becomes manifest – is precisely what modern art lacks. In response to the Modernist ‘absence’, fascist cultural politics attempted to install an ‘aesthetics of presence’.