Architectural and artistic works of the Vittoriano

Sacconi had to repeatedly counter the various proposals to place inside the building works of art that also represented precise historical figures and facts, beyond, naturally, King Victor Emmanuel II, to whom the monument is dedicated.

[11] The allegories (i.e., abstract concepts expressed through concrete images) of the Vittoriano's artistic works represent, according to the canons of the Neoclassical style, mostly the virtues and sentiments, often rendered through personifications, that motivated the Italians in their struggles for national unity during the Risorgimento, understood as the period from the uprisings of 1820-1821 to the capture of Rome (1870),[1] or, according to others, to victory in World War I.

[15] While liberal Italy saw the Vittoriano as a secular temple where the unity and freedom of the homeland could be metaphorically celebrated,[17][18][19] Fascism viewed the monument as a stage where the country's aggressive military might could be flaunted.

[25] According to some authors, Sacconi was also inspired by the forms used, including in the colonial sphere, by several imperialist nations of the time such as the United Kingdom, France, the German Empire, and Belgium.

[24][28][29] The Vittoriano was conceived as a large forum open to the citizens, a kind of elevated square in the heart of the capital organized as an agora on three levels where there are ample spaces reserved for the transit and stopping of visitors, of which the stairways and terraces constitute the fundamental element.

[24][30] The monument, as a whole, appears as a kind of marble covering of the northern slope of the Capitoline Hill:[28] it was therefore conceived as a place where it is possible to take an uninterrupted patriotic walk among the works present, almost all of which have allegorical meanings related to the history of Italy.

[17] The Vittoriano was conceived as a place where it is possible to take an uninterrupted patriotic walk (in fact, the route has no architectural end, since there are two entrances to the highest part, one for each propylaeum) among the works present, almost all of which have allegorical meanings related to the history of Italy.

[12] The two winged Lions represent the initiation of patriots who decide to join the Italian unification undertaking motivated by ardor and strength, which also control their instinctive side.

[32][33] The Winged Victories, in addition to recalling the military and cultural achievements of the Roman era, allegorically symbolize the good omen brought about by the realization of national unity.

[29] Also on the terrace of the Altar of the Fatherland are the sculptural groups made of Botticino marble that symbolize the moral values of Italians, that is, the ideal principles that give strength to the nation.

[39] Following the Treaties of Paris (1947), peace agreements signed by the nations participating in World War II, Pula, Rijeka and Zadar passed to Yugoslavia and - after the dissolution of the latter - to Croatia.

[39] In detail, the description of the altars is as follows:[39] In the center of the row of altars of the redeemed cities, engraved on the stylobate, i.e., on the vertical wall on which the colonnade of the sommoportico rests, is a monumental inscription carved on the occasion of the solemn burial ceremony of the Unknown Soldier (November 4, 1921), which bears the text of the Victory Bulletin, an official document written after the Armistice of Villa Giusti with which General Armando Diaz, supreme commander of the Royal Army, announced, on November 4, 1918, the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy's victory in World War I.

[41] At the base of the text of the Victory Bulletin are two other altars similar to those of the redeemed cities but having, instead of the coat of arms of the municipalities, a helmet: The monumental inscription bearing the Victory Bulletin reads: His Majesty King Victor Emmanuel III of Savoy The war against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which began on 24 May 1915 under the high command of H.M. the King, Supreme Duce, and which the Italian Army, inferior in numbers and resources, waged with unshakable faith and tenacious courage for 41 months, was won.

On the plain, His Highness the Duke of Aosta, at the head of his invincible III Army, advanced rapidly, longing to return to the victorious positions he had already conquered and which he had never lost.

The Austro-Hungarian Army was crushed: it had suffered heavy losses in the fierce resistance of the first days, and in the pursuit it had lost very large quantities of material of all kinds and almost all its stores and depots.

[2] The epigraph on his tombstone bears the Latin inscription "Ignoto Militi" and the years of the beginning and end of Italian participation in World War I, namely "Mcmxv" (1915) and "Mcmxviii" (1918).

[48] The perpetually burning flames are a very ancient symbol, which has its origins in classical antiquity and especially in the cult of the dead: they represent the memory that remains alive despite the passage of time.

After passing the Altar of the Fatherland and continuing up the staircase, one encounters the equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II, a bronze work by Enrico Chiaradia and the architectural centerpiece of the Vittoriano.

[17] Maccagnani also decorated the lower part of the plinth with symbols of the armed forces victorious in the wars of the Risorgimento: the Engineer Corps, Navy, Artillery, and Cavalry; the obvious source of inspiration are the similar reliefs of the nearby Trajan's Column.

[38] Continuing up the staircase past the equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II, one arrives at the most architecturally impressive and conspicuous element of the entire complex: the large portico with Corinthian-style columns, slightly curved, located at the top of the monument and therefore called the "sommoportico.

"[2] The presence of winged Victories on the chariots metaphorically communicates that Italy, having won unity and freedom, is ready to spread a new Renaissance in the world, supported by the moral virtues allegorically represented in the Vittoriano.

[18] The concepts of "freedom of citizens" and "unity of the fatherland" also summarize the fundamental themes[2] that characterized the beginning and the end of Victor Emmanuel II's contribution to the Risorgimento.

[64] The beginning was the proclamation of Moncalieri (Nov. 20, 1849), with which the king, who had ascended the throne a few months before, confirmed the survival of the liberal regime (thus linked to the concept of "freedom of citizens") in a period marked by widespread conservatism that was a consequence of the violent repression of the 1848 uprisings.

[67] The presence of statues metaphorically portraying the regions of Italy draws inspiration from the personifications of the Roman provinces, often placed on celebratory monuments during the imperial era;[68] as an example, suffice it to think of the reliefs of Hadrian's temple in Piazza di Pietra.

[2] The description of the Winged Victories on triumphal columns is as follows: The entrance to each propylaeum leads to a large quadrangular vestibule, which opens onto a colonnade that offers a wide panoramic view of Rome.

[66] Bargellini's mosaics along the highest part of the walls figuratively represent: Faith (allegorically rendered with the consecration of children to the homeland by the people; in the background is a city reminiscent of Jerusalem), Strength (a warrior accompanying a young man to a meeting with a woman armed with a sword), Work (personified by a family of farmers gathering together after a day in the fields), and Wisdom (depicted with a teacher in a chair in front of his pupils seated on desks).

[66] Along the highest part of the walls, Rizzi executed: The Law (a work composed of the allegories of Justice seated on the throne, Wisdom, Wealth, Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance, each with its classical attributes), Valor (depicted with a young man tempering his sword on the wings of Liberty and who is surrounded by the founders of the Italic lineage, including Aeneas and Ascanius), Peace (a female figure holding a sheaf of wheat and by other figures bearing the fruits of the earth, while white doves fly toward a fountain of water) and The Union (depicted with a young man meeting The Poetry).

"[66] The "ceiling of the sciences" owes its name to the bronze sculptures by Giuseppe Tonnini placed inside the sommoportico, which represent the Allegories of the Sciences and are all composed of female personifications: Geometry with a compass and a square, Chemistry with a retort and a distiller, Physics with a lantern and a barometer, Mineralogy with a quartz crystal, Mechanics with a cogwheel, Medicine with a cup and a rod of Asclepius, Astronomy with a globe of the zodiac and a sextant, and Geography with a protractor and a globe.

[20] The epigraph on the inner side of the tombstone bears the inscription "Ignoto Militi" and the dates of the beginning and end of Italian participation in World War I, namely "Xxiv Maggio Mcmxv" (May 24, 1915) and "Iv Novembre Mcmxviii" (November 4, 1918).

[45] The Unknown Soldier, on November 1, 1921,[79] was awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor, Italy's highest military decoration, with a motivation that was also inscribed on the inner side of the shrine, in the crypt of the same name:[45] Worthy son of a valiant lineage and a millennial civilization, he stood unyielding in the most contested trenches, lavished his courage in the bloodiest battles and fell fighting with no other prize to hope for than victory and the greatness of the Fatherland.On the door of the simulacrum, on the other hand, is the following epitaph,[47] personally penned by King Victor Emmanuel III:[80] Unknown the name - his spirit dazzles - wherever Italy is - with a voice of weeping and pride - they say - innumerable mothers: - he is my son.