Street Art in Florence - Sturmtruppen

This large artwork, signed The Typers, represents a  strip of the famous Italian satirical comics, Sturmtruppen. Created by Franco Bonvicini (Bonvi) in 1968, the comics was published until 1994, year of the author's death following a car accident: while crossing the street, Bonvi was hit by a car conducted by a drunk driver. Highly awarded, Sturmtruppen has been extremely popular and printed in newspapers, magazines, books in Italian and in 11 foreign languages, including Russian. It has inspired two films, a play that caused a scandal in 1972 because it was performed by naked actors on stage, a song in 1976, television sketches, a collection of collectible stickers and even a video game.

The comics, set in the Second World War, tell the war from the point of view of the German assault troops (Sturmtruppen), always involved in grotesque, absurd and surreal situations. It was one of the few attempts to joke and laugh about war and in particular about Nazism, a difficult and very delicate feat. Despite the mocking tone, the stories highlight the brutalization of the human being, his transformation into a machine without feelings and without a face, without hope, automaton-slaves subjected to ruthless discipline. So, beyond the burlesque tone, the stories present deeply human, anti-war and antimilitarist themes.
Florence, viale Corsica.