Carla – ill fated girlfriend of Benito Mussolini (2023)
by Richard Britell (1944 – )
7.5 x 5.75 in., oil on linen
Coppola Collection

Richard Britell, a career painter, studied at Pratt Institute with Philip Pearlstein and Walter Erlebacher. I have a few of his pieces, which are all great. He is represented by Lauren Clark (Great Barrington, MA, nestled in the Berkshires).

Clara “Claretta” Petacci had a long-standing relationship with Mussolini while he was married to Rachele Mussolini.  Petacci was 28 years younger than Mussolini.

On 27 April 1945, Mussolini and Petacci were captured by partisans while traveling with a Luftwaffe convoy retreating to Germany. The German column included a number of Italian Social Republic members.

On 28 April, she and Mussolini were taken to Mezzegra and executed. One source alleges Petacci’s execution was not planned and that she died throwing herself on Mussolini in a vain attempt to protect him from the bullets. On the following day, the bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were taken to Piazzale Loreto in Milan and hung upside down in front of an Esso petrol station. The bodies were photographed as a crowd vented their rage upon them.