Vittoriano
The Sacrifice by Leonardo Bistolfi
One of the most sensitive Italian sculptors of the twentieth century immortalised the final kiss between The Genius of Liberty and a young soldier who is about to die.
The Sacrifice was carved out of marble by sculptor Leonardo Bistolfi from Piedmont (1859-1933). Bistolfi received the commission in 1907 and completed it in 1911. The group, together with the three others on the first balustrade of the Vittoriano, materialises one of the fundamental values of the identity of the young Kingdom of Italy.
The Sacrifice is a soldier who, despite being close to death, continues to aspire to liberty. Supported by Slavery, in the form of a second man in shackles and chains, and by the female figure of The Comforting Family, The Sacrifice receives a kiss, or the final farewell, from The Genius of Liberty.
The Sacrifice is unanimously considered one of the noblest representations in the Vittoriano and one of the masterpieces of Italian Liberty: the artist was able to avoid the risks of empty rhetoric, managing to instil real humanity in the characters.
