1859 - 2009. 150th Anniversary of the Second War of Indipendence
"The perfect history of that war" Battle of Solferino and San Martino
exhibit by Stefano Benetti
City Museum Palazzo San Sebastiano 21 November 2009 - 25 April 2010

In occasion of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the battle of Solferino and San Martino, the City Museum will display a selection of prints depicting the resurgence. The representations are based on drawings completed directly on the war grounds and offer the visitor a visual testimony of the event, as it was perceived by people of the time. It also retraces the good fortune that these representations were successively all over Europe. Two prestigious paintings display moments from the armed battle – the first time ever displayed in Mantova – and enrich and complete this section.

A second series of prints documents the aspect of Mantova during the explosion of the second war of independence: closed and protected from imposing military fortifications.

Within the educational project "La Battaglia di Solferino e San Martino nel Risorgimento Mantovano" offered by the Sistema Provinciale dei Musei and by the Beni culturali mantovani, the Museum also organizes an educational workshop called "Reportage dal campo di battaglia: come nascevano le incisioni di fatti di guerra" (Reporting from the battlefield: how artwork from war is born) aimed at introducing students to the artistic and valuable techniques of creating sketches and drawings, which was the fundamental illustration instrument for historical eighteenth century documentation.