Room five - combattimento fra I garibaldini e le truppe del re di napoli, francesco ii di borbone, presso capua (combatment between the garabaldi army and the troops of the king of naples, francesco ii of borbone)

 

The fifth level of the tower is dedicated, on the other hand, to the celebration of the Garibaldi campaign of 1860. The painting, entrusted to the young Giuseppe Vizzotto Alberti of Oderzo and financed by the Ministry of the Interior, portrays in fact the Combattimento fra i garibaldini e le truppe del re di Napoli, Francesco II di Borbone, presso Capua, (Combatment between the Garabaldi army and the troops of the King of Naples, Francesco II of Borbone, at Capua). This event in the Battle of Volturno, that took place between 26th September and 2nd October 1860, saw the victorious army of volunteers around Giuseppe Garibaldi. The artist, with great ability in the choice of taking advantage of the curves of the wall, paints so that the Neapolitan army is visibly seen to be running downwards in flight on the right hand side. They are literally swept away by the heroic ardour of the Garibaldi army, that seem to almost collapse on the enemy under the thrust of the blond, bearded Giuseppe Garibaldi, who is just visible on the left while, on the back of a white steed, he incites his fellow soldiers to attack. All around, wrapped in an intense southern light, the countryside, from which the green rises, glossy and brilliant, showing the notable qualities of Vizzotto Alberti as a landscape artist. The contrasting colours, made stronger by the sunny day, underline along with the glory of the Garibaldi army- and as intentioned in conflict with it - also the eternal universality of suffering that war brings with it, according to the dictates of a now solid tradition of composing in the search for the correct balance between naturalism, reflection and celebration.