The architectural and artistic works of the Vittoriano, an Italian national monument located in Rome on the northern slope of the Capitoline Hill, represent, through allegories and personifications, the virtues and sentiments that motivated Italians during the Risorgimento, the period during which Italy achieved its national unity and liberation from foreign domination.. For this reason, the Vittoriano is considered one of Italy's patriotic symbols.
It was the monument's designer, Giuseppe Sacconi, who decided to place only exclusively allegorical works of art, because he believed that only through art devoid of any reference to contemporaneity could the monument be given a universal value that would not be affected by the passage of time. 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.
The architectural centerpiece of the Vittoriano is the equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II, the only non-allegorical representation in the monument.. The term "Vittoriano" derives precisely from the name of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, the first king of united Italy, one of the protagonists of the Risorgimento and the process of Italian unification, so much so that he is referred to by historiography as one of the four "Fathers of the Fatherland," along with Cavour, for his political and diplomatic work, Garibaldi, for his military actions, and Mazzini, whose thought illuminated the minds and actions of Italian patriots.
Floor plan of the Vittoriano Entrance of the Vittoriano with artistic gate by Manfredo Manfredi; Sculptural group The Thought by Giulio Monteverde; Sculptural group The Action by Francesco Jerace; Fountain of the Adriatic by Emilio Quadrelli; Sculptural group The Strength by Augusto Rivalta; Sculptural group The Concord by Lodovico Pogliaghi; Fountain of the Tyrrhenian by Pietro Canonica; Sculptural group The Sacrifice by Leonardo Bistolfi; Sculptural group The Law by Ettore Ximenes; Winged Lions by Giuseppe Tonnini(one statue on each side); Entrance staircase; Winged Victory on naval ram by Edoardo Rubino; Winged Victory on naval ram by Edoardo De Albertis; Altar of the Fatherland, which houses the tomb of the Unknown Soldier; Statue of the Goddess Roma by Angelo Zanelli; Statues of the Fourteen Noble Cities by Eugenio Maccagnani; Equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II by Enrico Chiaradia; Winged victory on triumphal column by Nicola Cantalamessa Papotti; Winged victory on triumphal column by Adolfo Apolloni; Propylaeum with colonnade on the top of which is presentthe Quadriga of Unity by Carlo Fontana; Winged Victory on triumphal column by Mario Rutelli; Winged Victory on triumphal column by Arnaldo Zocchi; Propylaeum with colonnade on the top of which isthe Quadriga of Liberty by Paolo Bartolini; Sommoportico with colonnade;on the cornice are presentstatues representing the regions of Italy;on the terrace under the stylobate,there are the memorial stones of the redeemed cities.
Overview
Rising on the Capitoline Hill, the Vittoriano stands in the symbolic center of ancient Rome and is connected to modern Rome by roads that radiate out from Piazza Venezia.. The monumental complex of the Vittoriano is 70 meters high (81 meters if the crowning quadrigas of the two propylaea are included), 135 meters wide, 130 meters deep, occupies an area of 17 550 square meters and possesses, due to the conspicuous development of the interior spaces, a walkable area of 717 000 square meters... The entrance staircase is 41 meters wide and 34 meters long, while the terrace where the Altar of the Fatherland is located is 66 meters wide. The maximum depth of the Vittoriano's basement reaches 17 meters below street level. The colonnade consists of 15-meter-high columns, and the length of the portico is 72 meters. Since June 2007, it has been possible to ascend to the terrace of the Quadrigas by taking advantage of an elevator: this terrace, which is the highest in the monument, can also be reached via 196 steps that start at the sommoportico.
One of the architecturally predominant elements of the Vittoriano are the external stairways, consisting of a total of 243 steps, and the portico located at the top of the monument, sandwiched between two lateral propylaea. The portico of the Vittoriano is called the "sommoportico" because of its elevated position (from "sommo," meaning "high," "great," "highest part.") Another architecturally significant element is the wide colonnade of Corinthian order that characterizes the sommoportico and the two propylaea..
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), or, according to others, to victory in World War I. In the Vittoriano, statues of winged Victories, both in marble and bronze, stand out as symbols of the auspiciousness of the realization of Italian national unity.
There are also numerous artistic works that recall the history of ancient Rome. In fact, since its inauguration, the Vittoriano complex also celebrates the greatness and majesty of Rome, which is elected to the role of the legitimate capital of Italy.. Various plant symbols are present, including the palm (recalling victory), oak (strength), laurel (victorious peace), myrtle (sacrifice) and olive (concord). All the works of art created for the Vittoriano engaged the major artists then active in Italy.Guida rossa del TCI, volume Roma, edizione del 2004, p. 203
The Vittoriano contains widespread allegorical meanings that, in the intentions of their makers, should have been clear and unambiguous. According to some authors,. however, this goal was not achieved, as the works, in their view, often suffered from ambiguous interpretations. Those who argue for this inherent ambivalence of the Vittoriano find its causes in the Risorgimento, which, according to the revisionist view, was characterized by a dual nature: on the one hand there would have been the patriots, and on the other hand the silent majority, consisting mainly of peasants and the middle class, who would have remained indifferent to the process of Italian unification. The patriots themselves, moreover, had different views on the future system of Italian government: from the beginning they were in fact divided into centralists and federalists, into monarchists and republicans. All of them, in any case, recognized themselves in the same tricolor flag and shared the same ideals of unity and independence.
To this must be added the historical stratification and the profound difference in the Vittoriano's public use, particularly the political contrast between liberal and fascist Italy in spreading their respective political messages. While liberal Italy saw the Vittoriano as a secular temple where the unity and freedom of the homeland could be metaphorically celebrated,. Fascism viewed the monument as a stage where the country's aggressive military might could be flaunted.. Finally, since the birth of the Italian Republic it has been regarded as the "forum of the Republic."
From a stylistic point of view, the architecture and works of art that embellish the Vittoriano were conceived with the aim of creating a "national style," a model to be used later in other areas as well. This was, in fact, the need expressed by art critics in the first decades of unification, in which the nation was fine-tuning its identity also from an artistic point of view. This "national style," according to Camillo Boito, who was its theorist, could not be new in plan, but rather, in order to have a fully national character, it would have to connect to the Italian architecture of the past; the study of the classics, however, was to be considered a point of departure and not of arrival. This is what Sacconi wanted to achieve and felt obliged to.
In this regard, for the realization of the Vittoriano, Giuseppe Sacconi took his cue from neoclassical architecture, the heir of classical Greek and Roman architecture, on which Italic elements were grafted according to the spirit of Eclecticism.. Sacconi also kept in mind the architectural style in vogue during the Second French Empire of Napoleon III (1852-1870), which was very common in the new buildings constructed in Paris at that time, leading to the complete transformation of the French capital;. in fact, this style was the only one he appreciated among those contemporary to him, although he disagreed with its excessive ornamentation and sumptuousness.. 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.
The fountains of the two seas Leaning against the Vittoriano's exterior basement, on either side of the entrance gate to Piazza Venezia, are the "fountains of the two seas," dedicated to the Adriatic Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, respectively. Both are set in a flowerbed and possess, since their origin, a hydraulic system that recycles their water, avoiding waste.. At one time, there was also an active 500,000-liter water cistern, later abandoned, located in the monument's basement.
The two fountains represent the two major Italian seas, which line the side shores of the Italian peninsula, symbolized instead by the Vittoriano: In this way, the entire country is represented, also geographically. To the right of the fountain of the Adriatic Sea are the remains of the tomb of Gaius Publicus Bibulus, a monument from the Republican era and an important landmark for ancient Roman toponymy.
Work Description Author Image Fountain of the Adriatic Sea It is located to the left of the entrance to the Vittoriano. It is an allegorical personification representing the Adriatic Sea, with one arm facing East and the other resting on a Lion of St. Mark, symbolizing the city of Venice. Emilio Quadrelli Fountain of the Tyrrhenian Sea It is located to the right of the entrance to the Vittoriano. It is an allegorical personification representing the Tyrrhenian Sea, lying on the Capitoline Wolf and with one arm resting on a sculpture on which is carved the siren Parthenope to symbolize the cities of Rome and Naples, respectively.Pietro Canonica
The external stairways and terraces
Features
The Vittoriano's external staircases fit the sides of the northern slope of the Capitoline Hill and lead, starting from the entrance in Piazza Venezia, to the terrace of the Altar of the Fatherland, then to the terrace of the redeemed cities (the one immediately below the colonnade of the sommoportico) and finally to the terraces of the two propylaea, which flank the sommoportico, constituting its entrances..
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..
The monument, as a whole, appears as a kind of marble covering of the northern slope of the Capitoline Hill: 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. In fact, the path has no architectural end, as there are two entrances to the highest part, one for each propylaeum.