Some time ago, on a visit to Montreal we had a chance to go to Church of the Madonna della Difesa in the Little Italy district of the city.
The church began construction in 1919. The artist Guido Nincheri labored on a series of stunning frescoes there for about two decades.
The primary focuses of the work seems to have been to commemorate the formal recognition of the pope's sovereignty over Vatican City that took place in 1929.
The fresco features the pope, God, Jesus the usual crowd of saint and angels.
But surprising to probably any contemporary visitor, included in this mix is none other than Benito Mussolini (on horseback no less).
By the time the works were completed around 1933 Mussolini was a rising 'star' as a major league dictator.
By 1945 he was hanging by his heels from in Piazzale Loreto, Milan (apparently now the site of a McDonalds).
Remarkable, the cycles of history.
