Grafiche I.G.A.P., Roma. Fabiola, or, the Church of the Catacombs, is a novel by Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, Archbishop of Westminster, published in 1854. It re-creates the life of the early Christian community as it was persecuted and hiding in the catacombs of Rome. In this, his most popular publication, Wiseman incorporated dramatic accounts of such well-known third and fourth century martyrs as Agnes, Tarcisius, and Sebastian. The novel has been adapted to film three times. This Italian language motion picture historical drama, based loosely on the novel, was directed by Alessandro Blasetti.
This poster foregoes the images of spectacle and violence that are hallmarks of the genre and favors a restrained, tender representation of the romance between the lead characters. It shows the collaboration in the production and distribution of the film between the Italian Universalia Studio and the American Warner Brothers distribution network. Universalia was a Catholic company, whose founder, Salvo D’Angelo (shown on the poster as the producer), had close ties to the Vatican. The company’s mission stated that its purpose was nothing less than the “spiritual renewal of the world.”
