Until the mid-19th-century, the Italian peninsula was filled with a series of independent states and principalities. It took a long political and social movement to bring them all together as the Kingdom of Italy. And Rome became its capital in1871.
The anniversary will be celebrated all year in programs and exhibitions that also celebrate the best of Italy in art, music, literature and food.
Risorgimento Exhibitions Worth Trip to Rome
Two Risorgimento exhibitions are well worth a trip to Rome, for anyone interested in this fascinating period in Italian history. I pittori del Risorgimento (The Artists of the Risorgimento) opens on October 6, at the Scuderie del Quirinale. Presenting the works of the period’s major artists -- Francesco Hayez, Federico Faruffini, Giovanni Fattori and Gerolamo Induno -- the exhibit places great paintings of battle scenes by Fattori and Induno side by side for the first time, showing how both artists tried to shift attention from the military to the movement’s popular social themes.
Il Risorgimento a colori (The Risorgimento in Color) opens January 9 at the Museo di Roma, featuring a large collection of paintings and sculptures illustrating the most significant events in Rome, the Risorgimento capital. These begin with the 1849 Roman Republic and end with the final collapse of the Vatican’s political domination when the city was taken by the Bersaglieri troops in September of 1870.
Risorgimento Museum at the Vittoriano
Instead of art, the third museum features actual artifacts. The recently reopened Risorgimento Museum at the Vittoriano houses memorabilia from the era, including letters by Alessandro Manzoni and objects belonging to fellow Italian patriots Garibaldi, Cavour and Mazzini. The Vittoriano opens onto a terrace with a magnificent panoramic view over Rome.
Hotel Massimo d’Azeglio Package
To complete the experience for visitors to Rome, the historic Hotel Massimo d’Azeglio is offering a package, The Artists of the Risorgimento, which includes buffet breakfasts each morning, tickets to the Scuderie del Quirinale exhibition and the official exhibition catalogue. Prices start from 150 euros (about US $200) per room per night, with a minimum two-night stay.
No hotel could be a more appropriate place to stay, since Hotel Massimo d’Azeglio has been right there in the center of Rome almost since Italy’s unification, and houses valuable historic collections of its own. It began as a wine cellar and restaurant in 1875, only shortly after Rome became the capital, and three years later became a hotel. The same family owns it today, having since built one of the most important hotel chains in Italy, The Bettoja Group.
In subsequent renovations, The Bettoja Group has kept the original 19th-century architectural style, restored by expert craftsmen, while adding all the modern comforts expected in a luxury hotel. The family’s own collection of Risorgimento memorabilia, portraits, battle prints and a large century-old map of Rome are displayed in the hotel and restaurant.
Barbara Rogers - Traveler, writer and guidebook author with a passion for those lands that border the Mediterranean Sea and the neighboring Atlantic ...
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