Room seven - la morte del maggiore giacomo pagliari presso la Porta Pia (the death of major giacomo paglieri at Porta Pia)
This last stop of the historical journey through the national renaissance is dedicated, in the end, to the conquest of Rome. This happened on the 20th September 1870. The event, again entrusted to Giuseppe Vizzotto Alberti and donated by the Marquis Medici del Vascello, shows The death of Major Giacomo Paglieri at Porta Pia. In the background, sketched with thick brushstrokes of colour by skilful hands, the mighty walls of the city emerge from the clouds of the artillery smoke. On the right a group of very young people, excited Bersaglieri soldiers head for the opening, through which we can faintly see some green trees. Rucksacks on shoulders, feather erect on the berets, they follow the sound of the bugle, whose golden reflections ring out among the more placid tones of the uniforms as their call would ring if it could be heard. Some of the young ones are looking back, others observe with horror the scene that is being played out on the left, in the empty space left by the dramatic break in the action: here some Bersaglieri soldiers support the young Marshal from Cremona, who though struck and dying, finds the strength to indicate the breach that has been raised spurring the companions to go ahead. On the extreme left, the army chiefs of staff sadly watch surrounded by the tricolour banners. All around, the white of the fortification walls frames the scene with solemnity. In the very front, a soldier is intent on carefully binding his wounded leg. The look of the spectator falls impotently on the fallen. Even in this last painting, the young Vizzotto Alberti demonstrates his ability to compose a complex scene of battle on a grand dimension, skilfully combining naturalism, narration and celebration.
The route concludes finally at the summit of the tower, where even today the tricolour flag flutters, in whose shade one paused (and one still pauses) to observe the country all around. Here one imagines the terrible moments of the immense battle that gave a start to a new course in history that with a thousand different events continues down to this day. It is the final moment, that of (inevitable) reflection; a moment of remembrance, memory and at the end, recognition. It is an arrival point of a figurative and real journey going upwards.
The route concludes finally at the summit of the tower, where even today the tricolour flag flutters, in whose shade one paused (and one still pauses) to observe the country all around. Here one imagines the terrible moments of the immense battle that gave a start to a new course in history that with a thousand different events continues down to this day. It is the final moment, that of (inevitable) reflection; a moment of remembrance, memory and at the end, recognition. It is an arrival point of a figurative and real journey going upwards.