Fate tutti il vostro dovere! (Fourth National War Loan)

Why it works

Italy's fourth National War Loan of 1917 borrowed Britain's most famous recruiting gesture and pointed it at savers. Achille Mauzan, a French-born poster artist, drew an infantryman in a steel helmet springing out of the trenches, rifle in one hand and a finger of the other aimed straight at the viewer, above the line "Fate tutti il vostro dovere!" ("Everyone do your duty!") and the name of the bank taking subscriptions, Credito Italiano. Italian heritage sources trace the device directly to Alfred Leete's Kitchener poster, but note the change of meaning: this soldier is not asking civilians to enlist, he is asking them to share the sacrifice with their savings. According to the Italian bishops' heritage portal BeWeB it was among the best-known posters in wartime Italy, reproduced by the bank in giant formats that covered city buildings and echoed in other artists' loan posters. It is studied as a clear case of a visual idea crossing borders and being repurposed from recruitment to finance.