Page 62 - PROTAGONIST 114

PROTAGONIST / MEMORABLE ENTERPRISES
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“Striking camp at dawn, as the army slowly
made its way through the snow-covered land
and the men’s faces betrayed their desperation,
Hannibal, who was at the head of the marching col-
umn, once he had reached a plateau from which he
could see all round, ordered the soldiers to halt and he showed It-
aly and the plain around the river Po, at the foot of the Alps, to
them.” This is one of the most majestic pages of history. Its author
is Tito Livio, and the scene he is describing is the crucial phase of
an undertaking that had seemed impossible before that moment.
The conquest of Rome. The Rome of 218 BC, the largest, rich-
est and most militarily organized superpower of the known world.
There it was, Rome, which now seemed such an easy prey having
dispatched an even more terrible and harsher enemy, the crossing
of the Alps, which had formed a natural barrier against all kinds of
enemies for millennia. Having left New Carthage on the southern
coast of Spain, which at the time was Carthaginian territory, Han-
nibal, the plenipotentiary commander of the troops of the African
power that challenged Rome for dominion over the Mediterrane-
an, saw the epilogue of his endeavours approaching.
Italy lay at his feet. Hundreds of historians have described the twen-
ty years of one of the most exciting and difficult military campaigns
of all time. But the most daring undertaking was to translate the leg-
end of Hannibal into one of the most precious Montblanc limited
edition series ever. It pays tribute to Hannibal and his skills as a mil-
itary strategist, but also honours the courage of the craftspersons
and masters of art of the Maison, who with the High Artistry Hom-
age to Hannibal Barca Limited Edition (four limited editions, with 1,
5, 10 and 86 pieces respectively) have also accomplished an incred-
ible enterprise. More than historic iconography, the starting point
for conceiving the pen was immersion in the spirit of the character,
“going beyond the myth of Hannibal and gathering its immortal
values: the ability and the courage to open new roads, to agree to
take on challenges that, up to that moment, had been considered
impossible,” explains Jens Henning-Koch, executive vice-president
of marketing, communications and product at Montblanc, during
the presentation of these incredible objects that was organized in
Of the four limited editions of the fountain pen (1, 5, 10 and 86 pieces),
the most precious: a unique specimen worth 1.5 million Euros.
Montblanc craftsmen worked for months on the combination of white gold,
diamonds and a blue sapphire pavé. Top of page, jewel within the
jewel: for this edition, the Maison created 10 pairs of cufflinks depicting an
elephant’s head, in white gold with two rubies in the place of the eyes.
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