Mazzini’s house

Mazzini’s house of birth is in Palazzo Adorno. Originallly the building, founded in XV th century, was owned by the noble family of the Adorno; the facade/front was decorated with frescos representing famous personality probably belonging to the same Adorno family. Then, in XVIt h century , when the nobility was attracted by the prestigious palaces of Strada Nuova (now Via Garibaldi), the emergent middle class replaced the nobility and the buildings in this whole area of via Lomelllini underwent considerable transformation. In particular this building was breaked up in two apartments and a pharmacy. Giuseppe Mazzini was born in this building in 1805. When he died in 1872, the Genoese Workers Confederation promoted a subscription to raise the funds to purchase the apartment in which he was born in order to found a Memorial Museum. In 1925 the building was declared “national monument” and later the Government established the sum for the purchase of all of the buiding with the aim to concentrate in one place all testimonies of the Risorgimento period. In 1934 the Istituto Maziniano was opened, putting togheter the Memorial museum, the Library, the Archives and the Museum of Risorgimento, opened in 1915 in Palazzo Bianco.

Today Istituto Mazziniano is the most important institution in Italy for studies concerning the democratic republican movement inspired by Giuseppe Mazzini. All this is due to the collections increased over the years through private donations – often descendants of the protagonist of Risorgimento – and donation by workers and political associations.

The exhibition lay-out

The Museum is winds throughs 14 rooms and containg paintings, drawings, documents, uniforms, flags, weapons. The exhibition lay- out presents also multimedia installation. At start a general presentation of museum, and a timescale concerning Genoa at the centre of History of the Risorgimento. At 2nd floor a installation concerning the thoughts and deeds of Giuseppe Mazzini, and one another concerning Mutual benefit Society between Workers. At last a installation concerning italian anthem, and one another concerning the Departure of Thousands of Garibaldi in 1861. The first room is dedicated to describe the XVIII century, in particular the revolt in 1746 against the Austrians, that were thrown outside the walls of the city; the hero of this revolt was a young man, named “Balilla” (this was a nickname); in 1797 the aristocratic structure of the republican governement was transformed in a democratic republic – jacobin republic, “sister” of the French nation-. In 1805 the republic became part of Napoleonic Empire, and in 1815 Genoa and Liguria were annexed to Reign of Sardinia, but the Genoese people traditionally and by mentality republican, did not suffer well being aggregated to a reign and in particular the fellows of a secret association, the “Carboneria”, conspired against the king Carlo Felice di Savoia.

At second floor there is a multimedia installation concerning Mazzini’s thoughts, friends, also women. Here the reconstruction of the study/office of Giuseppe Mazzini with his guitar. Giuseppe Mazzini loved literature, arts, and music; himself played guitar and composed music. Here we are in Mazzini family’s apartment. There are paintings, fotography, documents concerning in particular his friends and his fellows, exponents of the democratic and republican movement, which saw Genoa as the propulsive centre; the most famous are Goffredo Mameli, Carlo Pisacane, the brothers Jacopo e Giovanni Ruffini. In fact during the historic period named “Restoration” , in 1828 the young Mazzini in the columns of the newspaper “L’Indicatore Genovese” began to speak about patriotism and politics, writing of literature, but his voice was immediately suffocated by the government and in 1831 he was exilied; he chose Marseille in France, where he founded the “Giovane Italia”, a secret organisation which in a few of years reached tens of thousands of followers. In 1833 he founded the “Giovane Europa” to contraste the “Sainted alliance of the power s “with the”sainted alliance of the peoples”. He lived also in Suisse and for a long time in London (in all he lived 40 years abroad, out of Italy).

Now we are in Memorial museum of Mazzini, the room in which Mazzini was born. There are documents, objects, drawings et cetera concerning his life and his studies; one of the most important episode of his life was the defense of Roman Republic in 1849, and his death in Pisa (Tuscany) in 1872.

3th floor.

These section housed in a large hall the most spectacular part of the museum. At first the original signed manuscript of the anthem “Fratelli d’Italia”, wrote by Goffredo Mameli. Goffredo Mameli was born in Genoa on September 5, 1827; he died at only 21 years of age, combating in the defence of the Roman Republic, on July 6, 1849. Poet-writer-patriot-soldier: Mazzini preferred him from among all of his followers because his personality included the perfect synthesis of thought and action. His verses were not pure literary exercises: for Italy “we are ready for death”, he wrote in his most famous anthem, almost foreseeing his own glorious end. He descends from an aristocratic family: his mother, the marquess Zoagli Lomellini, childhood friend of Mazzini, understood his sensitivity and the aspirations; his father, of Sardinian origins, was instead loyal to the Savoia family and had made his career in the marine military. Goffredo wrote political pamphlets, founded a newspaper, was the spirit of all of the demonstrations which until 1846 were aimed at obtaining constitutional reforms from Charles Albert. He organised the patriotic manifestation of December 10, 1847,during which he unveiled, as a symbol of unity, the tricolour flag of the Giovine Italia (Young Italy). He ran to the help of the Milanese rising up against the Austrians, he participated in the first war for independence; after the defeat he was among the first to rush to Rome, where, the Pope having fled, on February 9, 1849 the Republic was declared.

The Verses

The first autographic drafting of “Fratelli d’Italia” is inside a personal notebook of the poet with notes, considerations, poetry, various writings. The frenzy with which the pen of Mameli pours out concepts and rhymes can be seen; the incomplete words are explained in this way (he writes “llia” for “Italia”), the forgotten accents, the errors with double consonants and other misprints. The second manuscript of the anthem is preserved in the Museum of the Risorgimento of Turin, it is the copy which Mameli sent to Novaro so he would compose music adapted to the words. The anthem was printed for the first time on leaflets in Genoa by the typographer Casamara and was distributed on December 10, 1847, to those who took part in the procession in Oregina.After December 10 the song of Mameli spread to every part of Italy, brought by the same patriots who had come to Genoa. Michele Novaro was born in Genoa on December 23, 1818. From when he was a child he frequented a theatrical and musical environment (his father was a scenery technician at the Carlo Felice Theatre; his mother, Giuseppina Canzio, was the sister of Michele, famous artist and author of numerous theatrical scene paintings). Novaro was culturally formed at the school of song and composing annexed the Carlo Felice Theatre. When he added music to the verses of Mameli he was working in Turin as a second tenor to the maestro of the Chorus of the theatres Regio and Carignano. He later returned to Genoa where he founded a music school where he gave free lessons to the poorest of youths. He was a fertile composer and most of all an excellent maestro and organiser of concerts, almost always for charity or to support the movement for political unity. Patriot and altruist, at last he lived on a miserable subsidy, almost forgotten. He died in Genoa on October 20, 1885. 

The Melody

Anton Giulio Barrili, writer and journalist, collected the direct testimony of Michele Novaro of the particular patriot atmosphere in which he composed the music of the anthem of Mameli: “during the evening of mid-September in the home of Lorenzo Valerio music and politics were made together [...]. In this way a new guest entered the salon, Ulisse Borzino, excellent painter[…] ; he himself came from Genoa and, turned to Novaro with a piece of paper he had drawn from his pocket at that moment: ‘Here’, he said, ‘Goffredo sends this to you’. Novaro opened and read it, he was moved. Everyone asked him what it was. They crowded around him. ‘Something stupendous!’, exclaimed the Maestro and read it out loud, and stirred the enthusiasm of all of the audience. I felt it - said the Maestro -, I felt something extraordinary inside of me. I cried, I was agitated and I could not stay still. I sat at the harpsichord with the verses of Goffredo and the music stand and I strummed, I assassinated that poor instrument with my convulsed fingers, always with my eyes on the anthem, putting down melodic phrases […] this was the original copy of the anthem Fratelli d’Italia”. Here a multimedia installation concerning the anthem and the tricolour flag. The anthem “Fratelli d’Italia was played and song the first time on 20th December 1847, when over 30,000 patriots from all over Italy were in Genoa to commemorate the expulsion of the Austrians from Genova in 1746 (the famous revolt of Balilla); it was the first public demonstration (not secret) of the italian Risorgimento. The subsequent sections are dedicated to the expedition of the thousands and to unification of Italy. There are uniforms, the famous red shirts of the Garibaldi’s fellows, weapon, flag, paintings. A multimedia installation is dedicated to explain the famous painting of dutch painter Peter Tetar Val Elven, concerning the departure of Garibaldi and his fellowes from Quarto - a little village near Genova – on 5 May 1861 (the painting was realized in 1891).

At last two little sections:

One section is dedicated to Genoese Carabinieri, association of young Mazzinians trained miltarily in the shooting with weapons and uniform belonging to the club, that partecipated to expedition of Thousands. The last section is dedicated to the documents of the Archive of Istituto Mazziniano; it shows a selection of the over 40.000 manuscripts keeped into the archive, the most past concerning the protagonist the Mazzinian democratic and republican movement. Thank you for your visit.

Informations:

Museo del Risorgimento - Istituto Mazziniano

Via Lomellini, 11

16124 Genoa

Phone.: +39.010.2465843

Fax: +39.010.2541545

E-mail: museorisorgimento@comune.genova.it,

www.risorgimento.museidigenova.it

Timetable:

Tues-Fri 9-19

Sat and Sun 10-19

Closed on Monday.

Ticket prices :

Full price: Euro 4.00

educed: Euro 2.80

Free: < 18 years and > 65 years

Card Musei: Free access