A married woman attending a health resort as a cover for a love-affair does not drink the curative water but pours it back into the basin of a fountain. Colour lithograph, 1914.

The smartly dressed woman, represented by the actress Gigetta Morano, pours water from a glass jug into the basin of a stone fountain. She looks out of the corner of her eye, implying the presence of her secret lover. The fountain is surmounted by the feet of a dancing putto and the water emerges from the mouth of a grotesque, grimacing man carved in relief. On the front of the fountain is an inscription "Acqua miracolosa"

Poster advertising the film 'L'acqua miracolosa', 1914. Plot of the film: Cavaliere Cornelio could be the happiest person in the world. He doesn't live badly, has a pretty wife, his coffers are full – but as for the blessings of children, things are just not working out for him. Dr. Rodolfi, his tenant, therefore suggests that his wife be sent for a cure in a certain watering-place, which has released everyone from their deficiencies. Cornelio does not suspect that Rodolfi and Madame have long been secretly exchanging love letters by means of a rope that runs down from his balcony to hers. That is why he has not the slightest suspicion when the doctor accompanies his patient to the watering-place and certainly has no problem with their abundant promenades through the pleasure gardens. Hardly is Cornelio's wife back before her belly starts to swell. Two sweet children are the result, Cornelio's pride and joy. But that it was less the magic powers of the miracle water that brought Madame to her happy state of motherhood, than a completely different magical fluid, namely Rodolfi's sperm, ought to be clear to everyone by this point, except the Cavaliere himself ... translated from review by Salvatore Baccaro on the Deliriano italiano website, 12 November 2016

Torino [Turin] : Ambrosio Films, [1914] (Torino : Atelier Butteri)

1 print : lithograph, printed in colours ; sheet approximately 200 x 140.5 cm

Acqua miracolosa. Società Anonima Ambrosio Torino. Affiches Ambrosio Films, Torino. Acqua miracolosa Signature of designer at foot, erased in impression catalogued

Mariann Lewinsky, Cento anni fa: attrici comiche e suffragette 1910-1914, Bologna: Edizioni Cineteca di Bologna, 2010 (Il cinema ritrovato ; 6) (as "Le acque miracolose / director, Eleuterio Rodolfi, Italy, 1914, 11:00")

Wellcome Collection 667867i