Tickets
English
DonateMembershipTickets

A Tumultuous Assembly. Numerical Sensibility (Une Assemblée tumultueuse. Sensibilité numérique), from "Les mots en liberté futuristes"

1919
Not on view
A Tumultuous Assembly: Numerical Sensibility is an example of tavole parolibere (free-word pictures). In this print, the subject of which is Italy’s victory in World War I, Marinetti drew from visual collage and parole in libertà (words-in-freedom) and eschewed regulations of grammar and syntax to create a work that can be interpreted both visually and aurally. A Tumultuous Assembly: Numerical Sensibility liberates numbers, signs, letters, and images from their functional responsibilities, exaggerates forms, and juxtaposes diverse elements, thereby producing unexpected associations. The Futurists celebrated the potential of war, drawing analogies between weaponry, such as torpedoes and bombs, and Futurist poetry. Here, Marinetti combined innovative typography, found elements (such as the image of the drummer boy on the left and the strips of letters and numbers throughout the composition), and dramatic variations in scale to create a dynamic composition representing a celebrating crowd.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Tumultuous Assembly. Numerical Sensibility (Une Assemblée tumultueuse. Sensibilité numérique), from "Les mots en liberté futuristes"
  • Series/Portfolio: Les mots en liberté futuristes
  • Artist: Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (Italian, born Egypt, Alexandria 1876–1944 Bellagio, Italy)
  • Publisher: Milano: Edizioni Futuriste di "Poesia"
  • Date: 1919
  • Medium: Letterpress
  • Dimensions: 10 1/2 x 13 in. (26.7 x 33.0 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of W. Michael Sheehe, 1995
  • Object Number: 1995.511.2
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
In the Evening, Lying on Her Bed, She Reread the Letter from Her Artilleryman at the Front (Le Soir, couchée dans son lit, elle relisait la lettre de son artilleur au front), from "Les Mots en liberté futuristes", Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Italian, Letterpress
In the Evening, Lying on Her Bed, She Reread the Letter from Her Artilleryman at the Front (Le Soir, couchée dans son lit, elle relisait la lettre de son artilleur au front), from "Les Mots en liberté futuristes"
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
Publisher Milano: Edizioni Futuriste di "Poesia"
created 1917, published 1919
Armor, Steel, copper alloy, textile, leather, Italian
Armor
Italian
ca. 1400–1450 and later
Untitled, Andrew Bush American, Chromogenic prints
Untitled
Andrew Bush
1993
Bascinet, Steel, plaster, Italian
Bascinet
Italian
ca. 1350–1400, with later restorations
Winter Landscape, George Seeley American, Gum bichromate and platinum print
Winter Landscape
George Seeley
1909

Related Content

Perspectives

Articles, audio, and video from The Met's online magazine.

Timeline of Art History

Entries and chronologies from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.