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The Master Drone
Italian: Il Pa-Drone
ArtistFabrizio Galli
Year2019
MediumPapier-mâché
SubjectDonald Trump
LocationViareggio, Italy

The Master Drone (Italian: Il Pa-Drone), popularly referred to as God Emperor Trump, was a 65-foot (20-metre) papier-mâché sculpture and float depicting Donald Trump, the president of the United States at the time, dressed as the fictional God Emperor of Mankind from the Warhammer 40,000 miniature war game franchise. It was created by the Italian artist Fabrizio Galli for the Carnival of Viareggio in 2019.

Design

The sculpture depicted Donald Trump wearing golden armour based on that of the God Emperor of Mankind from Warhammer 40,000. The knee and shoulder pads of the armour depicted the heads of various political figures.[1] In his right hand, Trump held a sword with four blue birds, representing Twitter, the platform from which he criticized his perceived enemies and promoted his positions.[2][3] Engraved on the blade of the sword was the Italian phrase dazi vostri, which translates to "your taxes" or "your duties",[1][2] but is also a pun on cazzi vostri, meaning "you're in trouble".[4][5] According to Fabrizio, the phrase could mean "here’s your fucking tariffs".[6] "The sculpture included multiple moving parts.[2]

Symbolism

The artist of the sculpture, Fabrizio Galli, stated that the sculpture was intended to mock the Trump presidency, and that Trump shares parallels with the fictional dictator from Warhammer 40,000.[2] Pointing out Trump's goals of Mars colonisation and the creation of the United States Space Force, Galli stated that politics had abandoned intellectualism in favour of "fantasy" and "virtual life".[4][7] The sword was intended as symbolic of Trump "trying to destroy nations with the economy instead of nuclear missiles".[8][6] This has been interpreted as a reference to the Warhammer 40,000 concept of Exterminatus, or the destruction of an entire planet.[7]

Images of Donald Trump photoshopped into the armour of the God Emperor of Mankind, as well as the title of "God Emperor Trump", had been Internet memes used by Trump supporters prior to the float's debut.[9][10]

Reception

Although the sculpture was intended to criticise Trump, many of his supporters embraced it, with Emerald Robinson, the White House correspondent for One America News Network, stating that the Italian carnival looked "more fun" than the American Thanksgiving Day Parade because of the float.[1][11] Several conservative commentators interpreted the float to be a tribute to Trump, claiming that the carnival was a parade in his honour.[5]

The Huffington Post described the sculpture as "terrifying".[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Carter, Josh (2019-02-20). "Giant sword-wielding Trump statue paraded through Italian town". WLBT. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  2. ^ a b c d Goggin, Benjamin. "'God Emperor Trump': Italy parade featured giant Trump float that included a Twitter sword, armor, and claw". Insider. Archived from the original on 2023-09-07. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  3. ^ Fink, Jenni. "'God Emperor Trump': Float With President's Face on It Makes Appearance in Italy's Carnival Parade". Newsweek. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Giant 'God Emperor Trump' Warhammer statue revealed at parade in Italy". The Independent. 2019-02-19. Archived from the original on 2023-09-07. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  5. ^ a b "Massive Emperor Trump Float Presides Over Italian Carnival". Time. 2019-02-10. Archived from the original on 2023-09-07. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  6. ^ a b c "Massive And Terrifying 'God Emperor Trump' Presides Over Parade In Italy". HuffPost. 2019-02-11. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  7. ^ a b "Terrifying Warhammer 40,000 "God-Emperor" Trump dominates Italian parade". Tabletop Gaming. 2019-02-14. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  8. ^ Conti, Allie (2019-02-20). "Here's a Huge Trump Papier-Mache... Thing". Vice. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  9. ^ Connaughey, James; Riedel, Sam (2016-11-17). "Why Is Warhammer 40k's Fandom Filled With Fascists?". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  10. ^ King, Hope (2016-07-25). "Donald Trump to host Reddit AMA". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  11. ^ Carter, Josh (2019-02-20). "Giant sword-wielding Trump statue paraded through Italian town". NBC12. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
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