Not titled, TASS No. 756, 23 June 1943

A Russian propaganda poster created under the TASS news agency, this image depicts the Fascist leader Benito Mussolini sitting in a boot, representing Italy, that is attached to a damaged hot air balloon. He is plummeting towards several Italian municipal islands that have been taken by the allies, and the image shows that it will not be long before the Fascist regime will come to an end. The text underneath the image was written by TASS poet Samuil Iakovlevich Marshak, and translates as: 'The Fascist empire is trembling, / Cowering, shivering, like a jellyfish. / Bayonets pierce through Pantelleria, / Through Lampione and Lampedusa. / They'll move even farther / Maybe even toward Italy...'

The translation was provided by the Art Institute of Chicago, which held an exhibition of TASS posters from July 31 to October 23 2011. The exhibition's catalogue, "Windows on the War" (edited by Peter Zork Zegers and Douglas Druik), includes a large amount of information about the TASS posters, the artists and writers as well as methods of printing and distributing.