Gardone VT - December 17, 2020 - History, as we know, is made up of symbols as well as events. And the Vittoria Alata, an admirable bronze work icon of the city of Brescia, could not fail to cross its history with that of the Beretta company. In mid-October 2020, the Lioness celebrated the return of the artifact, after a long and careful restoration at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, and the company wanted to retrace the past to celebrate when and how the roads crossed .
It is worth remembering that the Winged Victory was discovered near the Capitolium in 1826, together with other bronzes from the Roman era. Its charm has since remained unchanged: a symbol of Brescia. So how do the two stories intersect? At the time the arms factory was managed by Pietro Antonio Beretta (1791-1853), but it is under the guidance of the descendant Pietro (1870-1957) that the request to the Prefect of Brescia for the transcription of the “Vittoria Alata” trademark takes place.
The reason behind this choice contains an admirable example of the company's innovative capacity: there was in fact the desire to transform production from artisanal to industrial by embracing international economic concepts such as those that, today, are known to all of us under the names of "Marketing" and "brand development". We arrive at the pre-war period: it is in 1913 (register number 13.760 of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce) that the company led by Pietro Beretta, a great lover of applied arts and sensitive to "beauty", decided to make indivisible the symbol with the brand: the initials "PBG" on top and the word "Vittoria" at the bottom. Here is the first version of a distinctive symbol of products in which the union between functionality and meticulous attention to details, including aesthetic ones, is essential. 
The goddess is reproduced in every catalog and shown as she was originally, or at least as she is assumed to be: with both arms, intent on writing on the shield and with the helmet of Mars under her left foot as a step. . The adoption of the trademark takes place before the statue is brought to Rome, the same destination for numerous works of the artistic and cultural heritage by order of the government for precautionary purposes: the desire was that these precious pieces were as far as possible from the front lines. He will return to Brescia two years after the end of the conflict.
In the meantime, the image acquires more and more importance in the company and the Victory is depicted in subsequent company catalogs: in different forms of evidence depending on the type of publication and the need. Also in those years, the icon was also used for product manuals, especially those intended for the public. The graphic alternative was represented by the Pietro Beretta writing or the “PB” logo enclosed in an oval. The same oval that, up to the 1680s catalogs, frames the Vittoria itself, accompanied by the words "registered trademark" and "house founded in XNUMX". 
A further step in the field of corporate iconography took place at the end of the 1906s, when the young Giuseppe Beretta (1993-16), son of Pietro and thirteenth representative of the family, met the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio. The warrior poet suggests to the young Giuseppe to use one of his favorite mottos "Dare in jug" (or "hit the target") represented by three arrows that "hit" as many objectives: an immediate reminder of absolute precision to be used on the Fabbrica's weapons . The registration of this trademark took place later, on March 1950, 1952. It is in these years, precisely for the 1953-XNUMX catalog, that an important change takes place: on the cover there is no logo, while those of the Vittoria and the Tre arrows alternate on the inside pages, respectively on the left and on the right. A more visible choice, the latter, for the brand that will become more and more central in the representation of the company's vast production range, both in the civil and military sectors. 
Despite this, the presence of Vittoria in the production of the 22s is important: the effigy appears on the promotional knife packed with each Beretta product; on the trophy-statuettes dedicated to the winners of rifle shooting competitions (55LR) up to the following decade; and on the entire series of S1955 Beretta over-and-under shotguns (a watershed rifle for the company, born in 58, it was the first industrial over-under to have parts interchangeable without the need for manual adaptation): here the Vittoria appears on the front of the receiver and it will also remain there until the “XNUMX” version for both hunting and shooting.
Also in '58 another registration of the “Vittoria Alata” trademark is kept in the State Archives. This, however, will disappear from the cover of the Beretta catalogs starting from that of 1968-1969. From the publication of 1972 only the symbol of the Three Arrows will be used with one exception in 1977 when, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the death of Pietro Beretta, a memorial was drawn up and the Victory returned to the cover in favor of one of the symbols that the ancestor chose directly. 
We arrive at 1978: the year of the last filing of the “winged” trademark which will no longer be renewed at the deadline of 29 July 1998. And here we are today, more precisely in 2017 when Beretta decides to revisit the Vittoria Alata logo to inaugurate the line of Vittoria rifles, still present in the catalog: the effigy returns to the catalog at the top on the dedicated page. Not a random choice since these weapons are characterized by an ergonomics designed for female hunters. 
And in conclusion we come to 2020. On the recommendation of the Gussalli Beretta family, the company has decided to create a commemorative piece dedicating it to Brescia's bronze. Thus was born the “one-of” SL3 which reproduces the wonderful wings of the Victory on the side panels: the skilled Beretta engravers have managed to recreate the jagged shape of the wing feathers. Furthermore, the entire sculpture is reproduced on the front of the action with a gold insert. All enclosed in a hand-made case with the Roman bronze logo on display. 
This splendid rifle was unveiled to the public today, on the same day that the Roman statue of the Winged Victory was returned to the city of Brescia within the spaces of Brescia Musei after a two-year period of restoration.
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