The Museum of the Risorgimento ( it, Museo del Risorgimento), located in the 18th-century

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

ese Palazzo Moriggia, houses a collection of objects and artworks which illustrate the history of

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

from Napoleon's first Italian campaign of 1796 to the annexation of Rome in 1870. The city of Milan played a key role in the process, most notably on the occasion of the 1848 uprising against the Austrians known as the

Five Days of Milan The Five Days of Milan ( ) was an insurrection and a major event in the Revolutionary Year of 1848 that started the First Italian War of Independence. On 18 March, a rebellion arose in the city of Milan, and in five days of street fighting ...

Description

The museum was founded on a collection of documents on the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

, gathered for the Exhibition of Turin in 1884 and then moved to the showroom at Milan’s Public Gardens. The exhibition was later transferred to the Rocchetta rooms at the

Sforza Castle The Castello Sforzesco (Italian for "Sforza's Castle") is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later reno ...

, where it was officially inaugurated on 24 June 1896. In 1943, due to the war-time bombardment of the castle, the museum was temporarily moved to the estate of

Casa Manzoni Casa Manzoni (in English ''Manzoni House'') is a historical palace sited in via Morone 1 near the quadrilateral of fashion in the center of Milan, Italy. Owned by the Manzoni family, the house was the birthplace of the famous Italian writer Ales ...

(home of the famed Italian poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni). Finally in 1951 it was housed inside the Moriggia Palace, where it remains today. The museum is part of the Civic Historical Collections. Its collections include

Baldassare Verazzi Baldassare Verazzi (6 January 1819 – 18 January 1886) was an Italian painter. Life Verazzi was born in Caprezzo, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Piedmont. He studied at the Academy of Brera at Milan from 1833 to 1842, then under the Venetian Romant ...

's ''Episode from the Five Days'' and

Francesco Hayez Francesco Hayez (; 10 February 1791 – 12 February 1882) was an Italian painter. He is considered one of the leading artists of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, and is renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories, and ...

's 1840 ''

Portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

of Emperor

Ferdinand I of Austria en, Ferdinand Charles Leopold Joseph Francis Marcelin , image = Kaiser Ferdinand I.jpg , caption = Portrait by Eduard Edlinger (1843) , succession = Emperor of AustriaKing of Hungary , moretext = ( more...) , cor-type = ...

''. The permanent exhibition is displayed to follow the chronological order of events of the Risorgimento, leading the visitor through fifteen rooms, to which the new Weapons Room has been recently added. The latest refurbishment in 1998 included the redesign of the permanent exhibitions, to accentuate the highlights of the collections, particularly the relics. The museum boasts the green-and-silver velvet cloak and the valuable regal insignia of Napoleon Bonaparte’s coronation, the banner of the Legione Lombarda Cacciatori a Cavallo (Lombard Legion on Horseback) and the first Italian flag. The last renovation saw the redesign of the lighting and information systems, as well as improvements to the ‘Romantic Garden’ behind the building.

The palace

The Moriggia Palace, which houses the museum, was designed in 1775 by

Giuseppe Piermarini Giuseppe Piermarini (; 18 July 1734 – 18 February 1808) was an Italian architect who trained with Luigi Vanvitelli in Rome and designed the Teatro alla Scala in Milan (1776–78), which remains the work by which he is remembered. Indeed, "il ...

. It is located behind the vast area of Brera, and was the residence, in Napoleonic times, of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

and later, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. At the beginning of the 20th century, the palace passed to the

De Marchi De Marchi or DeMarchi is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adevildo De Marchi (1894–1965), Italian forward footballer * Alberto De Marchi (born 1986), Italian rugby union player * Alessandro De Marchi (conductor), Italian cond ...

family and was then donated to the City of Milan by his wife of the famous naturalist

Marco De Marchi Marco Antonio De Marchi (born 8 September 1966) is an Italian association football agent and former defender, who played as a centre-back. Career Born in Milan, De Marchi started his career with the Como youth system, and was successively s ...

Gallery

File:Episodio delle cinque giornate (Baldassare Verazzi).jpg, ''Episode from the Five Days (Fighting at

Palazzo Litta The Palazzo Litta, also known as the Palazzo Arese-Litta, is a Baroque structure in Milan, northern Italy, opposite San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore, and dating from the period of Spanish rule of the city. In 2018, it served as a cultural cent ...

)'', by

File:Vittorio Emanuele Duca di Savoia - Gerolamo Induno - 1850 circa - museo del risorgimento di Milano.JPG, ''Vittorio Emanuele Duca di Savoia'',

Gerolamo Induno Gerolamo Induno (13 December 1825 – 18 December 1890) was an Italian painter and soldier, best known for his military scenes. His older brother, Domenico, was also a well-known artist and they often worked together. Biography He was born in Mi ...

, 1850. File:Vittorio Emanuele II a cavallo - Gerolamo Induno - 1861 - olio su tela - Museo del Risorgimento - Milano.JPG, ''

Vittorio Emanuele II Victor Emmanuel II ( it, Vittorio Emanuele II; full name: ''Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di House of Savoy, Savoia''; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was Kingdom of Sardinia, King of Sardinia from 1849 until 17 Marc ...

on horse'',

, 1861. File:Poncho e camicia rossa di Garibaldi - Museo del Risorgimento di Milano.JPG, Poncho and red shirt of

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

. File:Divise delle truppe garibaldine - Museo del Risorgimento di Milano.JPG, Uniforms of the garibaldines. File:Francesco Giuseppe I imperatore d'Austria - Francesco Hayez - 1852 circa - 001.JPG, ''

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the Grand title of the Emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg m ...

'',

, 1852. File:Ingresso di Vittorio emanuele II in Venezia - 1866 - Gerolamo Induno - Museo del risorgimento di Milano.JPG, ''Entry of Vittorio Emanuele II in Venice'',

, 1866.

References

External links

*
Museo del Risorgimento
{{DEFAULTSORT:Museum Of The Risorgimento (Milan)

Giuseppe Piermarini buildings Tourist attractions in Milan