“Is that what you call Mare Nostrum…?”

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Found in: Poster

Reference

Poster 449

Image File Name

A2-4_449_0001-3.jpg

Short Description

A cartoon by Stephen Roth mocks Mussolini's ambitions in the Mediterranean.

Text Description

Stephen Roth was a prolific Czech Jewish artist whose cartoons lampooned fascist dictators and put a wry spin on political events during the Second World War. Roth immigrated to London before the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia and spent the rest of his life contributing to English newspapers. His style was so instantly recognisable that he rapidly gained a cult following.

This cartoon, titled “…Is that what you call Mare Nostrum?”, refers to Benito Mussolini's ambition to create a new Roman Empire in the Mediterranean. ‘Mare Nostrum’ is an ancient Latin term meaning ‘Our Sea’. Although initially successful, the Allies had achieved near domination of the Mediterranean by 1943.

Our unique art collection includes several Roth originals, complete with corrections and captions written in the artists' hand. Contact Us to find out more.