A bronze statue outside the Palazzo degli Uffici in Rome’s EUR district. Created in 1939 as a Fascist icon, it was modified and renamed the Genius of Sport in the early 1950s.
At a glance
The statue stands beside a side entrance to the Palazzo degli Uffici in EUR, the district planned for the 1942 Universal Exposition that never took place due to the war. Documents describe it as a two-metre-high bronze by Italo Griselli, conceived in 1939 as a heroic nude by sculptor Italo Griselli, and subsequently altered to depict a boxer or wrestler.
Key facts
- Where: Via Ciro il Grande, 00144 Roma
- What: Monument
- When: 1939 (as the Genius of Fascism); modified and renamed in 1953
- GPS: 41.8366, 12.4690 · Open in Google Maps
History
The statue was sculpted in 1939 as the Genius of Fascism, also called the Genius Italico. It showed a muscular young man, nude except for a fig leaf, performing the Roman salute. After the fall of the regime, the gesture and the name became an embarrassment. In 1953, boxing gloves were added to the figure’s hands, transforming it into a boxer or wrestler acknowledging a presumed victory, and the title on the cylindrical plinth was changed to the Genius of Sport. The original base, inscribed with ‘Roma aeterna’ and three fasces, was later found in the palace gardens at a distance from the sculpture.
What you see
The photographs show a bronze male figure with one arm raised, standing on a speckled granite pedestal against a travertine wall. The green oxidised bronze base has faint, eroded lettering. A separate memorial plaque on a white wall names the artist and the statue, gives the year 1943, and carries the text ‘Già Genio del Fascismo’ and the EUR logo.
Do you know more about this place?
If you know a date, a name, a document, a plaque or a photograph that tells its story, write to Sofia at sofia@culturalheritageonline.com or through the contact page. What arrives with a source goes into this page, with your name as the contributor.
Nearby
- Palazzo degli Uffici (EUR) — Gaetano Minnucci and the First Building of the E42 — the statue stands outside this building
- Palazzo del Genio Civile — another E42 palazzo in the same district
- Salone delle Fontane — inside the Palazzo degli Uffici complex
- Palazzo dell’INPS all’EUR — nearby E42 institutional building
Gallery
Sources
- Walks in Rome, The Genio dello Sport by Italo Griselli, Palazzo degli Uffici, EUR, Rome: identification of the statue and its location
- Il Giornale dell’Arte, Fabio Isman, Le architetture fasciste che ci siamo risparmiati | 5: history of the statue’s creation, modification and original base
- GoGo Guide, Genius of Sport, Roma: Visitor Guide: renaming of the statue in 1952 by Virgilio Testa
- Stefano Vigolo, photographs and notes to the editorial staff (2026): identification of the subject. Not a published source
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