Collection
This section contains information on the works in Lucca’s Museum of the Risorgimento.
This section contains information on the works in Lucca’s Museum of the Risorgimento.
Lithograph A French, an English and a Piedmontese soldier symbolise the alliance which was forged in Europe against Russia and which led to the Crimean War of 1853 to 1856. Through this system of diplomatic, political and military relationships, the head of the Piedmontese government, Camillo Cavour, lifted the Kingdom of Sardinia out of international isolation and brought the question of Italian nationality to the attention of the European powers.
Lithograph Having distinguished himself in the Crimean War, Edme Patrice Maurice de Mac Mahon (1808 – 1893) was sent by Napoleon III to head the II French Army Corps fighting in northern Italy in support of the Piedmontese troops in the 2nd War of Independence. On 4 June 1859, he led the Franco-Sardinian operation against the Austrians at Magenta, winning a major victory which enabled the French and Piedmontese forces...
Lithograph On the night of 5/6 May 1860, Garibaldi’s Thousand embarked for Sicily on the steamships Lombardo and Piemonte belonging to the Genoese company Rubattino. This was the beginning of the epic campaign which would free the south of Italy from Bourbon domination and subsequently lead to unification of the country.
Lithograph 15 May 1860. Having left Salemi, the Thousand headed for Calatafimi. Here they encountered the Bourbon general Landi at the head of 2,300 men camped on the hill of Pianto Romano. The Bourbons attacked at 10 o’clock in the morning. Garibaldi’s army forced the enemy to retreat, but on more than one occasion found themselves in such a critical position that Bixio asked Garibaldi if they should withdraw. To...
Garibaldi supports little Uruguay under attack by rich and powerful Argentina. He is in command of the Italian Legion, a military unit of some 500 Italian volunteers and, amongst other problems, he has to provide them with a uniform. Of course the country’s coffers were empty. Lack of money was about to give rise to the most famous uniform of the 19th century. Due to the war and military blockade...
Curved blade etched with plant symbols and the Savoy coat of arms. Manufacturer’s name inscribed in letter case on the handle Solingen F. E. Bleckmann Classic hussar hilt in steel with langets. Ebony handle with knurling. Iron plated sheath with two rings.
Original red shirt of a Garibaldi volunteer. The words of a Garibaldi Song describe it: “You carry the mark of my wound, you are torn to pieces, ripped apart, which is what makes you all the more dear to me, red shirt, rare shirt”. (from “The red shirt”, lyrics by Rocco Traversa, music by Luigi Pantaleoni, 1860)
This silent film, made for the Cines company, belongs to the dawn of Italian cinema; it tells the story of a boy who runs away from home to join his father who is a volunteer in the Thousand. When they meet up in Sicily, the boy is accepted and enlisted in the red shirts and dies fighting alongside his father. Probably based on a children’s story about Giuliano Mazè, the...
A sad episode in the history of the young Italian State occurred on Aspromonte, a mountain massif in southern Calabria. On 29 August 1862, the royal forces, commanded by Colonel Pallavicini, stopped just over 2,000 Garibaldi volunteers who had disembarked in Calabria four days previously, on the General’s orders to overthrow the Papal State and free Rome from the Papal power. An exchange of fire between the two lines was...
Garibaldi was wounded in the leg Engraving Giuseppe Garibaldi was shot twice during the Battle of Aspromonte (29 August 1862): the first was a superficial wound to the left thigh; the second, more serious, was to the instep of the right foot. This began an ordeal for Garibaldi that was to last more than a year. He was attended first in La Spezia and then in Pisa by the most...