THE GODDES OF BRESCIA
The SL3 luxury over-and-under shotgun to celebrate the return of the Vittoria Alata (Winged Victory in English), a Roman statue that is the symbol of Brescia, the city nearby Beretta, and was the company logo until the 1950s.
BERETTA AND THE VITTORIA ALATA
The Vittoria Alata, a marvelous bronze work of art and an icon of the city of Brescia, could not help but intersect its history with that of the Beretta company. In mid October 2020, the city celebrated the return to its premises of the artwork, after a long and careful restoration at the Pietre Dure workshop in Florence, and the company wanted to look back to celebrate when and how their paths crossed. It is worth recalling that the Vittoria Alata was discovered near the Brescia Capitolium in 1826, together with other bronzes from Roman times. Its charm has remained unchanged ever since. How do these two stories connect? At the time, Beretta firearm factory was run by Pietro Antonio Beretta (1791-1853), but it was under the guidance of his descendant Pietro (1870-1957) that the request was made to register the "Vittoria Alata" trademark for the company.
A PIONEERING CHOICE AS IN THE COMPANY DNA
The reason behind this choice embodies a remarkable example of the company's innovative capacity: there was indeed a desire to transform production from artisanal to industrial, embracing international economic concepts such as those we all now know by the names of "marketing" and "brand development". This was followed by the registration of the "Vittoria Alata" brand (until July 1998) and the silhouette of the Goddess remained on all Beretta catalogues (together with the three-arrows logo that was adopted in the 1940s and that we all know today). From the 1972 catalogue, only the three-arrow symbol was used, with only one exception in 1977 when, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Pietro Beretta's death, a memorial paper was drafted and the Vittoria returned onto the cover, reminding one of the symbols chosen directly by Pietro.
A TRIBUTE TO THE "MADE IN BRESCIA" AND "MADE IN ITALY"
In 2017 Beretta decides to review the logo of the Vittoria Alata to inaugurate the Vittoria gun range: the effigy returns to the catalog at the top of the dedicated page. This was not a casual choice, since these shotguns are characterized by an ergonomics designed for female hunters and shooters. In 2020, upon request of the Beretta family, the company created a commemorative piece dedicated to the Brescian bronze statue. This SL3 "one-off" piece reproduces on the sideplates the wonderful wings of the Victory: the highly skilled Beretta engravers managed to recreate the jagged shape of the wing feathers. On the bottom of the receiver a gold insert portrays the sculpture. A handmade suitcase from Pietro Beretta in-house Atelier reproduces the logo of the Roman bronze in full view.
A CHARITY PURPOSE
SL3 Vittoria Alata was sold on a silent auction for 107.000 euros. The exceeding amount from the auction base of 65.000 (42.00) was doubled by the Beretta family and donated to the Johnny Morris Foundation for natural conservation projects, for a total donation of 84.000.
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