Photo by Fontana

Fontana in Rome portrayed many divas an other stars of the Italian silent cinema. These portraits were reproduced for a series of popular postcards in sepia and later in black and white by Edizione A. Traldi in Milan. Sadly, we could not find more information on the photographer and his/her studio.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 323. Photo: Fontana.

Considering her profile, it is not hard to imagine why critics and artists of the early 20th century compared Lyda Borelli (1887-1959) to the heroines of Aubrey Beardsley.


Italian postcard, no. 325. Photo: Fontana.

Maria Roasio (?-?) was an Italian actress, who acted in the late 1910s and early 1920s in Italian silent cinema, in particular at Ambrosio.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 329. Photo: Fontana, Roma.

Polish actress Soava Gallone (1880-1957) was one of the divas of Italian silent cinema.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 331. Photo: Fontana.

Vera Vergani (1894 –1989) was an Italian stage and film actress. She not only performed in the first stagings of Luigi Pirandello’s plays but in 1916-1921 she also knew a career as an actress in Italian silent cinema.


Italian postcard, no. 378. Photo: Fontana.

Lucy di San Germano aka Lucy Sangermano (1898-?) was an Italian silent film actress who peaked in the late 1910s and early 1920s.


Italian postcard, no. 388. Photo: Fontana.

Astrea (?-?) was the enigmatic female ‘forzuto’ of Italian silent cinema.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 489. Photo: Fontana.

Elena Lunda (1901-1947) was an Italian actress who acted in some 35 Italian silent films, as well as German silent films. She was briefly married to actor Alfredo Bertone.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 490. Photo: Fontana.

Liliana De Liguoro is known to have made just one film, Il racconto di carnevale (Max Galotti, 1921), produced by Ambra Film/ UCI. It is one of many films produced and scripted by Lucio D'Ambra and directed by one of his collaborators. De Liguoro looks like the spitting image of the better-known Rina De Liguoro, so she may have been a sister, a lookalike, or just Rina herself.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 869. Photo: Fontana.

Italian actress Lia Formia appeared in 20 silent films between 1918 and 1925. For years she was the leading actress of director Lucio D'Ambra.


Italian postcard, no. 872. Photo: Fontana.

Italian actress Alba Savelli (?-?) played in a handful of films between the mid-1920s and the end of the decade.


Italian postcard, no. 16. Photo: Fontana.

Luigi Serventi, aka Gigi Serventi (1885-1976), was a male star of Italian silent cinema, often cast with Italian divas such as Pina Menichelli. After his Italian career, he continued in Germany and Czechoslovakia in the 1920s.


Italian postcard, no. 14. Photo: Fontana. In the early 1910s, Amleto Novelli played in the early Western Sulla via dell'oro (1913) and the rural La rupe di Malconsiglio (1913). Novelli's outfit in this photo may well refer to one of these films.

Amleto Novelli (1885-1924) was a star actor in the Italian silent cinema. He appeared in many biblical epics and starred with all the divas of the Italian film. During the shooting of a film, he suddenly died, only 38.


Italian postcard, no. 25. Photo: Fontana, Rome. Mario Bonnard's name is misspelt as Bonart.

Mario Bonnard aka Mario Bonard (1889-1965) was an Italian actor and director, whose career spanned from 1909 to the early 1960s.


Italian postcard by Ed. A. Traldi, Milano, no. 27. Photo: Fontana.

Alberto Capozzi (1886-1945) was an Italian film and stage actor who had an enormous career in Italian cinema in the 1910s and early 1920s. Afterwards, he pursued a career abroad in Austria and as a sound dubber in France. He returned to film acting in Italian cinema in the early 1940s.