The first poster for Generali to be illustrated in colour was by Venetian painter Gian Luciano Sormani, a Venetian-born artist, a teacher at the art institute of Naples and director of the Academy of Urbino.

The classical-style figure of Mercury, the god of commerce, stands out in the poster against a backdrop depicting the lagoon of Venice and the clocktower of St Mark’s Square, symbols of age-old entrepreneurship and solid economic systems.