Garibaldi's army sentinel 1868

Gerolamo Induno painted this image of a soldier of Garibaldi’s army, probably in the 1860s. The figure stands as a sentinel, rifle in hand, before a fortified town. Garibaldi's army played a key role in the Italian Risorgimento, a period of social and political change which led to the unification of the Italian states. Induno’s image creates meaning through its cultural and historical associations with this movement. The artist positions the viewer at eye-level with the soldier, emphasizing the commonality of the soldiers, who were largely volunteers. Italy at this time was a patchwork of independent states, dominated by foreign powers and the Catholic church, but there was a growing sense of Italian identity and a will to create a new nation state. Historians look to the image as a comment on the social structures of its own time, revealing the dreams of a modern, liberal, and independent Italy. Art is contingent on social and institutional context and historical research can help us to understand it better.