[alfa] Re: Logo history

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jef,

Visconti is Italian for the title of Duke or Viscount and not really a
family name. The "family" name of Visconti is an assumed one. The first
Visconti de Milano was one Ottone, Lord of Inverio and Oleggio
Castello. Ottone was veteran of the first Crusade and raised an army
under Giuseppe d' Rho for that war. While in Jeruslaem, Ottone
supposedly engaged and dispatched a Saracen warrior who had upon his
shield, a serpent devouring a human being. Naturally, as the victor, he
had the right, under the rules of Christian heraldry,  to assume the
symbol if he so desired. Back in Milan, he  added the serpent to his
coat of arms along with the red cross on a white background and was
made Duke by the city. Eventually the dukedom made it's way (through
descendants and marriage) to one Captain Francesco di Musio Attendolo,
known locally as "La Sforza", or "The Force." Sforza adopted the
nick-name as his own legal last name and married the daughter of the
last male of the Ottone "Visconti" family, Bianca Maria in the 1450's.
It was Sforza, now the Duke of Milan who expanded the castle (which was
built upon an old Roman fort foundation),  and re-added the White Cross
of the Crusades (known as the Cross of Saint George in Britain) to the
family crest, which by then had the serpent on the left and three
Phoenix birds, one atop the other, on the right. This earlier coat of
arms can still be seen over the drawbridge on the east gate to the
castle. In the courtyard, overgrown with ivy, one finds, barely
visible, Ottone's original crest with the cross and TWO serpents on an
angle. The final form of the crest has the Serpent on the left, facing
left, and the Cross (now the symbol of the city of Milan) on the right
with a crown overall can be seen over the main gate with the Italian
slogan: 'Scuola Superiore d'Arte Applicata all' Industria' which, if my
limited Italian doesn't fail me means "Knowledge of fine art is
applicable to all work". This crest, in ceramic tile is dated 1977, and
was placed there by the city.

George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0 'S'
(CA Lic# 'TIPO116')


On Nov 28, 2004, at 9:50 PM, alfa-digest wrote:

>
> Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 10:56:41 -0800
> From: "Jef Fowler" <jef@domain.elided>
> Subject: [alfa] RE: Logo history
>
> Don't remember/can't find (it was googled) where this came from;
>
> "Alfa Romeo Logo: the Visconti ducal coat of arms is represented by a
> shield
> bearing a serpent with a babe in its mouth, surmounted by a crown. The
> Visconti family recollects that  back in year 800  one of their
> ancestors
> had killed, in the vicinity of Milan, a serpent that poisoned infants
> just
> by breathing on them. The other half of the Alfa Romeo logo, the red
> cross
> set against a white background, stems on the other hand from the
> banner of
> the city of Milan."
>
> Also http://www.homdrum.no/alfa/alfa_history_logo.html is a good Alfa
> site.
> Real nice design.
>
> I originally thought the 'human' was a sword rammed down the serpents
> throat.
>
> Jef
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