So the dark-skinned man could be related to the DNA match through marriage or friendship, and not be related to you at all. Sounds like a wild goose chase.

No suggestion of race variation in that mix. Is the DNA match certain he has blood relation to the man in the photos?

It appears that Italian aliens in the U.S. had to register with the military during WWI, but what was the policy about drafting them? What about WWII?

What's the ancestry mix of the DNA match?

Have you searched records for persons from your town (including non-relatives) to see if there are enclaves of particular races, ethnicities, religions, etc. which might explain darker skin pigment? Very few pics of unrelated people from that area (at least from the time period), & those I've s...

The man in the second photo doesn't look Caucasian, or at least not fully.

Rome has been a cosmopolitan city for ages so it's no surprises to find a wide variety of people living there.

Have you searched records for persons from your town (including non-relatives) to see if there are enclaves of particular races, ethnicities, religions, etc. which might explain darker skin pigment?

You can get back before 1820 using church records (before 1820) and civil allegati (after 1820).

Maybe the new dark-skinned man is a distant relative so you don't share enough DNA for race to show in you, or maybe his race is from his parent whose not related to you by blood?

Looks to me like the dark skin comes more from race than from the sun. Especially seen in the second photo. Like from the Horn of Africa. Italy's wars with Ethiopia date back to 1887. And, of course, there was Libya or Italian North Africa. There were mixed-race children born during/after WWII, perh...

I was reminded of Campy who had an Italian father and black mother. Here he is younger and older.
What do you think?

Is it the same man in all three photos? Have you tried the photo matching software? Have you tried colorizing the photos?

So, this isn't your father's side of the family?

Don't you already know your mother has Italian ancestry?

I'm not suggesting your ancestor was fair-skinned, I'm just wondering how his complexion was perceived in Italy.

It's all relative, what's "dark" complexion to an American clerk completing a passport application may appear "natural" to an Italian clerk completing a passport application. That's why I wanted the comparison. I don't doubt he had dark skin from our American perspective but it'd...