# Where and when was the Italian advertising poster born?

**In Milan, at the music publisher G. Ricordi & C. In 1889 the La Scala set designer Adolfo Hohenstein joined Ricordi's Officine Grafiche and soon became its artistic director; he trained Leopoldo Metlicovitz (promoted to designer in 1894) and Marcello Dudovich (from 1897). The same studio made opera posters and shop posters.**

Casa Ricordi was founded in Milan in 1808 as a music publisher; Giulio Ricordi took charge in 1888. Hohenstein designed the poster, sets and costumes for Puccini's *La Bohème* (Turin, 1 February 1896), and the studio also worked for clients such as the Mele department stores of Naples, Campari and Strega.

Posters were collectable almost at once: in 1895 the 18-year-old Ferdinando "Nando" Salce of Treviso bought his first one, the start of a collection of about 25,000 that he left to the Italian State in 1962.

Several of the founders were not Italian by birth: Hohenstein was born in St Petersburg to German parents, and Metlicovitz and Dudovich were born in Trieste when it was part of Austria-Hungary.Sources
- [Italy World's Fairs: G. Ricordi & C. Editori](https://italyworldsfairs.org/protagonists/publishers/g-ricordi-and-c-editori)
- [Treccani, Dizionario Biografico: Leopoldo Metlicovitz](https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/leopoldo-metlicovitz_(Dizionario-Biografico)/)
- [Treccani, Dizionario Biografico: Marcello Dudovich](https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/marcello-dudovich_(Dizionario-Biografico)/)
- [Bertelsmann: Archivio Ricordi digital collection](https://www.bertelsmann.com/en/media/news/archivio-ricordi-brings-italian-opera-history-to-life-in-the-digital-realm.html)
- [Ministero della Cultura: Museo Nazionale Collezione Salce](https://cultura.gov.it/luogo/museo-nazionale-collezione-salce-sede-di-san-gaetano)

Source: WM Arte Gallery, https://www.wmartegallery.com/answers/birth-of-the-italian-poster-ricordi (updated 2026-11-02)