danielk21

I solved my own question. I added a $count variable before the loop and it icreases by 1.

here is the code:

<?php rewind_posts();
                        $count = 0;
                        $my_query = new WP_Query( array( 'category_name' => 'il belpaese', 'posts_per_page' => 2, 'post__not_in' => $do_not_duplicate ) );
                        ?>
                    <section class="category-box clear">
                        <div class="bg-wrapper clear">
                        <?php
                        while ( $my_query->have_posts() ) : $my_query->the_post();
                        $count++;
                        $do_not_duplicate[] = $post->ID; ?>

                        <article id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class(); ?>>
                            <section class="sub-cat-post medium-left clear">

                                    <?php if ( $count == 1 ) { ?>
                                        <figure class="featured-image medium-img">
                                            <a href="<?php echo esc_url( get_permalink() ); ?>" rel="bookmark">
                                                    <?php the_post_thumbnail( 'discover-magazine-category-medium' ); ?>
                                            </a>
                                        </figure>....