Along with Italian Baroque, Futurism is considered one of the most important sources of inspiration for Fontana's art, and in particular for his 'Spazialismo'. The Futurist avant-garde movement was founded in 1909 by the writer Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944). The declared aim of the Futurists was to abandon the past and embrace the modern world and the future, calling for the destruction of museums, which they saw as 'cemeteries'. They celebrated the 'beauty of speed', worshipped technology and were intoxicated by the dynamism they saw in modern cities with their skyscrapers, new means of transport and neon signs. But they were also fascinated by the destructive power of modern war machines.
With its radical demands and radical visions, its enthusiasm for war and its misogyny, Futurism prepared the ground for the ideology of Fascism. The first meeting between Marinetti and Mussolini took place in 1914, and in 1919 the 'Futurist Party', founded by Marinetti the previous year, merged with Mussolini's 'Italian Fascist Party'.