The artworks to be restored

The personifications of the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas, inspired by Roman models placed by Michelangelo in the nearby Campidoglio, dominate the two fountains on either side of the entrance.

On either side of the main entrance are two fountains: the fountain to the east with The Adriatic Sea is by Emilio Quadrelli (1863-1925) from Milan; the fountain to the west with The Tyrrhenian Sea by Pietro Canonica (1869-1959) from Piedmont. Commissioned in 1908, the two artists delivered the works in 1911, in time for the inauguration of the monument on 4 June 1911. The model for the two figures are the statues of rivers that, in ancient times in the Baths of Constantine, were placed by Michelangelo in the Renaissance on the Piazza del Campidoglio, at the foot of the steps of the Palazzo Senatorio.

Quadrelli represents The Adriatic Sea lying with his gaze turned towards the east, while he brings his right hand to his forehead, as if protecting himself from the light, and rests his left hand on the lion's head, the symbol of Venice.

Canonica presents The Tyrrhenian Sea lying with its face turned towards the east. One hand rests on the head of the Capitoline She-wolf, the best known of Rome's symbols, the other on a bas-relief adorned with the figure of Parthenope, which alludes instead to the city of Naples. In Greek mythology, in fact, the siren Parthenope with her song bewitched sailors, who lost control and ended up against the rocks. When Ulysses managed to pass unscathed, Parthenope killed herself. Her body was carried by the waves to the shores of the Gulf of Naples where it became an object of veneration.

The two fountains are also a fine example of hydraulic engineering. They required an enormous amount of water and were therefore very costly to operate. To solve the problem, two motor-pump units were installed, which took the water from the lower basin and lifted it up to the upper basin, thus ensuring its recirculation. At the same time, a reservoir with a capacity of 500 cubic metres was built to allow the fountains to be filled quickly after cleaning and also to raise and lower the gate.

On either side of the gate stand two groups in gilded bronze, 10 metres high. To the east is Il Pensiero (The Thought) by the Piedmontese sculptor Giulio Monteverde (1837-1917). Monteverde received the commission in 1907 and completed it in 1910, thus in time for the inauguration ceremony of the Monument on 4 June 1911 in the presence of King Victor Emmanuel III, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Unification of Italy.

Monteverde imagined Il Pensiero with wings spread, resting his hand on the shoulder of La Saggezza, depicted with the helmet and shield of the classical goddess Minerva. La Saggezza in turn extends her hand to Il Popolo Italiano, who lies at her feet. The group is completed by La Discordia with the scourge dragging La Tirannia away, recognisable by its hair of serpents, and, on the back, with The Genius of War, represented with Roman arms.

To the west is L'Azione by the Calabrese Francesco Jerace (1853-1937), 10 metres high and made entirely of gilded bronze. Jerace was commissioned in 1907 but did not deliver the work until 1912; a provisional model of the same shape and size had to be placed in its place on 4 June 1911.

In this work, Jerace harmonises his realist language with the classicist inspiration of the Monument. L'Azione di guerra appears as a woman wearing the attributes of the Piedmontese army, namely the helmet of King Carlo Alberto, the shirt with the effigy of the Order of the Annunziata and the flag with the inscription 'Italy and Victor Emmanuel'. The figure towers above a Garibaldian soldier with a 'gabbione' - the basket filled with earth that served as a temporary fortification in barricades - the lion of Venice in the act of trampling the oppressor, a woman with a club, a boy inciting to battle and La Giovane Italia with the symbols of Freemasonry, compass, square and shining sun on his forehead.

A monumental flight of steps with two flights connects the entrance of the Monument to the first terrace on which the Altar of the Fatherland stands. At the end of the parapet stand two winged bronze Vittorie executed between 1908 and 1911 by two different sculptors.

Vittoria on the right of the viewer is by Edoardo Rubino (1871-1954) from Turin. Vittoria on the left is by Edoardo De Albertis (1874-1950) from Genoa. The iconography is taken from the classical world: Vittoria is depicted as a young woman, with a palm in one hand and a laurel wreath in the other. Both figures stand on the prow of an ancient Roman ship, adorned with a wolf's head and fitted with a rostrum.

Behind each Vittoria stands a bronze pinnacle, made by Gaetano Vannicola (1859-1923). The pinnacle, with a base decorated with festoons, culminates in an eagle.