Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II Sulla Piazza Omonima 1900

Giuseppe Barberis made this engraving, Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II Sulla Piazza Omonima, sometime between about 1870 and 1910. It presents the monument to Victor Emmanuel II, first king of a unified Italy. The image invokes a powerful set of ideas about nationhood and the role of the monarchy, as well as the concept of progress, both military and social. Let’s consider the iconography: the equestrian statue with the rider brandishing a sword. This is a visual trope with a long history and cultural resonance in Europe, linking back to the victory monuments of ancient Rome, and it reflects the social and political context of a newly unified Italy. Understanding Barberis’s image requires a wide knowledge of Italian history, politics, and art institutions. The historian's role is to interpret that meaning within its specific historical context. We might consult a range of documentary sources, from newspapers to official records, to more fully understand the monument and its place in Italian society at the turn of the century.