Vittorio Emanuele II was the first king of an unified Italy. He is considered the “padre della patria”, literally the father of the fatherland.
The equestrian statue, by the sculptor Augusto Rivalta, was placed in “Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II” (now “Piazza Grande”) in 1892. After the war the statue was moved in “Piazza Unità d'Italia” in front of the “Palazzo del Governo”, whose friezes have been object of a couple of overlong posts.
Giuseppe Verdi was known as a patriotic composer and this led to claims, before the unification of Italy, that the slogan “Viva VERDI” (Long live VERDI) was an acronym for “Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia” (Vittorio Emanuele King of Italy), when he was still only king of Sardinia.External links: Victor Emmanuel II of Italy - Giuseppe Verdi (Wikipedia)
In the midst of yesterday's talk of a republican constitution, I had totally forgotten that you did indeed have kings. Good for you to get rid of those and get yourself a modernized constitution.
ReplyDeleteI like Verdi and these pictures are really nice, the top one is awesome.
ReplyDeleteViva Verdi
they are all awesome and 'father of the motherland' sounds perfectly fine to me.
ReplyDeleteKing of Italy has kind of a strange ring these days...
ReplyDeleteNice statues, though. And more super historical commentary.
Motherland, fatherland...same difference, right?
I think "Father of the Motherland" sounds nice. I also think the first photo is extremely dynamic. I can see that the horse wants his own way, and doesn't really care if it's a fatherland or a motherland!
ReplyDeleteIt's a very handsome statue. And interesting claim about the meaning of Verdi. I wonder how true that was.
ReplyDeleteThe 1st shot is extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteThe Viva Verdi title made me really curious - and I never would of guessed the meaning of the slogan.
Wonderful statue in the blue sky.
ReplyDeleteI took a picture just in front the gallery Vittorio E. II in Milano.It was in July / 2001. My grand father was an Italian citizen and his name is Vittorio!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful sculpture, I loved the blue sky so intense!
Thanks for all information!
( Nel 2001, purtroppo, non ha visitato la città di Livorno, quindi devo tornare in Italia e vedere di più la bellezza di questa splendida terra, mio nonno era nella regione di Firenze.)
By the way, you are absolutely right about the crazy traffic in some Italians cities!In fact I had troubles with a motoneta in the streets of Roma!I was just walking around and the "guy" hit my leg!But everything was okay in the end. :)
By the way (2 ) :) Here in Luxembourg many people thinks that I'm italiane because my look like!
Ciau mio amico!
Léia
I don't know... I think father of the motherland sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteVery dramatic statue. My first encounter with Vittorio Emanuele II was his monument in Rome which is so ... giant and ornate :) I guess the architect imagined it as something fit for a king :)
ReplyDeleteHe was a great composer. I never realized he was so diplomatic as well.
ReplyDeleteMotherland... Fatherland... it all sounds a bit strange.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see the sculptor was very detailed on the horses rump! I guess that's the sign of a good artist.
That kind of sculpture is fascinating. We have few of those in Bulgaria /of the Russian Emperor who fought the Turks for our independence/. I like more the horse - politicians of any kind are boring - but that horse tail is still there in the air - fascinating!
ReplyDeleteInteresting, and nice photos. The first one is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteVerdi and Italy together.Everyone loves Verdi.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the historical information you include on your posts...good to be educated. I agree that the top photo is indeed strong!
ReplyDelete