Full Dress, Infantry, Italy, 1886, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

The Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company produced this lithograph of an Italian Infantryman in 1886, as part of a series of collectible cards. Here, the image promotes Sweet Caporal Cigarettes, yet its content is of a soldier in full dress, complete with rifle and bayonet. The figure stands before a swirling backdrop of Italian national colors, suggesting the power and glory of the newly unified nation. The institutional history here is fascinating: the image makes a not-so-subtle association between military prowess and smoking, both being activities linked to virility. By the late 19th century, Italy sought its place among the European colonial powers, making images of military strength, widely disseminated on cheap commodities, instruments for cultivating a nationalist fervor. To understand this artwork, we can research the complex political history of Italy, and the advertising strategies used to reinforce national identity. The meaning of this art is contingent on its social and institutional context.