A makeshift stretcher recalls the clash between the Italian army and Garibaldi’s men intent on conquering Rome
In 1861, after the unification of most of the Italian peninsula, the “Roman question” was made explicit, that is, the problem of how to conquer Rome, the ideal capital of Italy, which had remained under the temporal government of Pope Pius IX (1846-1870). This resulted in the venture led by Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), who, in 1862, decided to move up through the Italian peninsula, starting from Calabria, with a group of volunteer fighters to conquer Rome. To avoid consequences on an international level, the government decided to put a stop to Garibaldi by force, by sending the army to confront him: twelve of Garibaldi’s volunteers died and Garibaldi was wounded in one leg at Aspromonte. All the objects related to this episode were preserved and donated to the museum: his boot with the bullet hole, the bullet, the bloody bandages, the blanket and the stretcher. The English inscription on the blanket is the work of Jessie White (1832-1906), wife of Alberto Mario (1825-1883), a fervent British patriot who followed the events of Italian independence.
