History of the Vittoriano

After the death of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy on January 9, 1878, there were many initiatives intended to erect a permanent monument celebrating the first king of united Italy, that is, to the one who brought to fruition the process of Italian unification and liberation from foreign domination, so much so that he is referred to by historiography as the “Father of the Fatherland,” partly due to the political work of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour and the military contribution of Giuseppe Garibaldi.

[6][7] In this act it was decided to allocate one hundred thousand liras and to set up a national fund-raising campaign whose objective would be to raise funds destined to erect a permanent monument dedicated to Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy to be built in Rome.

[2] The runners-up were Ettore Ferrari and Pio Piacentini, who produced a collaboratively drafted proposal that was much liked, which envisaged the construction of a monument on the northern slope of the Capitoline hill, namely that on which the basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli stands.

[13][20] Ferrari-Piacentini's project envisaged a monument to be built alongside the aforementioned basilica in the form of an imposing marble construction marked by ascending tiers of steps, with a majestic colonnade on its summit and with a statue of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy seated on a throne, which would be the centerpiece of the architectural complex.

[23] In the debate it was also proposed, in case the Vittoriano was to be built on the Capitoline Hill, the demolition of the pre-existing Palazzo Senatorio to the ground level of the underlying Tabularium, which would serve as the foundation for the monument dedicated to Victor Emmanuel II: the latter would thus dominate the Imperial Fora.

[31] These members of the assembly proposed that the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, located in Capitoline Square, be moved to a museum for the monument, replacing it with a similar artifact representing Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy.

[31] Palazzo Senatorio would then be modified in its function, with its transformation to a monument celebrating Victor Emmanuel II and the Risorgimento with the creation of an upper loggia facing the square that would house the most important figures of this historical period.

[40] The Vittoriano was conceived as a large, modern forum[41] open to citizens, located on a kind of elevated square in the historic district of Rome organized as an agora on three levels connected by tiers of steps, with conspicuous spaces reserved for visitors to stroll.

[46] In order to then draw the observer's eye to the upper portico, in lieu of a different covering material, Sacconi was obliged to revise the decorations of this part of the monument, which were made more lavish and conspicuous through the addition of some small statues.

[59][60] The consequence of the discovery of the Servian Wall was a substantial modification of the project: two more foundation piers were added to the upper portico, in order to leave the archaeological remains found during the earthworks free and open to inspection.

[64] In order to erect the Vittoriano it was necessary, between the last months of 1884[57] and 1899, to proceed with numerous expropriations and extensive demolitions of the buildings on the northern side of the Capitoline Hill, the one next to the basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, where the monument was to be built.

[66] In this context, the Vittoriano would have been the equivalent of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, London's Admiralty Arch and the Opéra Garnier in Paris: these buildings all share a monumental and classical appearance that metaphorically communicates the pride and power of the nation of which they are the symbol.

[82] Following a survey by experts on June 26, 1883,[85] which was the last one before final approval for the work, the vast neighborhood on the northern slope of the Capitoline Hill, where the Vittoriano was to be built, was thus demolished, consisting of medieval and Renaissance buildings, and many historical constructions such as the papal villa commonly known as the Tower of Paul III were demolished, the overpass connecting with Palazzo Venezia (the so-called “arch of St. Mark”), the three cloisters of the Franciscan convent of the Ara Coeli (the basilica of the same name was spared and still stands adjacent to the Vittoriano), the church of Santa Rita da Cascia in Campitelli (which was rebuilt elsewhere), the barracks of Santa Caterina da Siena, Palazzo Tiberi and all the minor buildings present on the slopes of the hill.

[102] As time passed, the overall concept of the Vittoriano was transformed, due to changes made to the design during the course of the project, from a stern monument closed in on itself from an architectural point of view, to a modern forum open to Piazza Venezia.

[63] This last revision of the design, which included lowering the balustrades of the terraces and modifying some of the staircases (which were made more rectilinear), was aimed at further slimming the structure upward with the goal of giving the impression that the Vittoriano was the natural architectural continuation of Piazza Venezia.

[110] This competition, in addition to choosing the artist to be entrusted with the work, left the sculptors free to propose the precise subject of the side depictions, without prejudice to the presence at the center of the statue of the goddess Roma.

[112] The monumental complex was inaugurated in front of a huge crowd on June 4, 1911, on the occasion of the events related to the national exhibition during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Unification of Italy,[101] by King Victor Emmanuel III of Savoy.

[117] The solemn event was opposed by the socialists (at that time led by the maximalist wing, which was the most intransigent and radical one) because of their internationalist ideology, which is the antithesis of the patriotism that was later expressed during the inauguration of the Vittoriano, and the republicans, who were critical of this ceremony given the unquestionable monarchical connotations that the monument possessed.

[118] The journey of the chosen body to the capital was made by train pulled by two steam locomotives of the FS Class 740 (one of them, unit 740.115, is preserved in the National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa), on the Aquileia-Rome line, passing through Udine, Treviso, Venice, Padua, Rovigo, Ferrara, Bologna, Pistoia, Prato, Florence, Arezzo, Chiusi, and Orvieto[124] at a very slow speed so that at each station the population had an opportunity to honor the fallen.

[125] The flags of all the regiments of the Italian Armed Forces and representatives of the combatants, widows and mothers of the fallen, with King Victor Emmanuel III of Savoy at the head, welcomed the arrival of the body by moving to meet the Unknown Soldier; the latter was then carried by a group of those decorated with gold medals to the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri.

[135] In 1928 it was decided to fix the area adjacent to the Vittoriano by opening Via del Teatro di Marcello; this involved dismantling the seventeenth-century church of Santa Rita in Campitelli, which stood at the foot of the steps of the Ara Coeli basilica and was rebuilt, ten years later, near the Theatre of Marcellus.

[129] Mussolini, when he accepted from King Victor Emmanuel III the task of forming his first government, indirectly recalled the symbolism of the Vittoriano, as he uttered the words, “[...] I bring to Your Majesty the Italy of Vittorio Veneto, reconsecrated by victory.

[168] Queen Elena, who donated the royal family's wedding rings in a ceremony officiated at the Altar of the Fatherland, delivered an official speech, an excerpt of which reads:[168] “[...] As we ascend the shrine of the Vittoriano united with the proud mothers and brides of our dear Italy to lay on the altar of the Unknown Hero the wedding ring, symbol of our first joys and extreme hardships, in the purest offering of dedication to the Fatherland bending to the ground almost to mingle in spirit with our glorious Fallen of the Great War, we invoke together with them, before God, ‘Victory’”The speech was related to one of fascism's political messages: Victory redeemed by the fascist revolution and therefore no longer “mutilated.”[112] Also from these years is the construction of the sacellum of the Unknown Soldier, that is, the crypt inside the Vittoriano made open to the public, which can thus be seen also on the other side of the tomb, the side that gives onto the inside of the building, and not only on the outside, the side that is at the Altar of the Fatherland.

[169] With the end of World War II (Sept. 2, 1945), from which resulted the referendum of June 2, 1946 and the birth of the Italian Republic, the Vittoriano, emptied of the military content that was associated with it by Fascism, returned to its previous function: a secular temple metaphorically dedicated to free and united Italy and celebrating sacrifice for the homeland and the ideals connected with it.

[171] The first instrumental use of the monument was the deposition, on February 11, 1947, of a laurel wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the concomitant organization of a general strike, during which incidents were recorded in Piazza Venezia between opposing political factions.

[172] On February 23, 1958, on the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Republican Constitution, there was the solemn transfer to the Vittoriano of the flag of the command of the Volunteer Corps of Freedom, that is, the general coordinating structure of the Italian Resistance during World War II, officially recognized by both the Allies and the Badoglio government.

[181] One managed to unhinge the door of the Central Museum of the Risorgimento, which flew seven meters, and to break the stained glass windows of the basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, while the other device made the base of a flagpole unsafe.

[145] In the 1970s and 1980s, the Vittoriano began to raise controversy among art critics, who saw the building as an anachronistic and unsuccessful attempt to bring the classicism of the imperial age back to Rome; on the other hand, as early as 1913, Giovanni Papini called it “Vespasian of luxury,”[183] while in 1931, at an event, the Futurists irreverently called it a “urinal.”[184] Journalists and writers controversially dubbed the monument a “wedding cake” and a “typewriter.”[185] At the end of the 1980s an opinion movement arose that wanted its “ruinization,” that is, its complete abandonment to itself which would be followed by a phase of partial dismantling, with the removal of the most important artistic works, which would be musealized, and the conversion of the monument to a mere elevated promenade site with the demolition of its most imposing and symbolic parts, such as part of the upper portico and propylaea.

[190] Specifically, the monument was made accessible to the public again through the will of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, after careful restoration, on September 24, 2000, on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the 2000-2001 school year, the most important part of which took place precisely at the Vittoriano in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic.

[...]”The rediscovery of the symbolic value was also accompanied by a more serene evaluation of the architectural aspects: the Vittoriano is now seen by the most up-to-date art critics as an important step in the search for a new “national style,” which was to characterize the newly constituted Kingdom of Italy.