It was on the wave of a public subscription that Bergamo wished to remember and honor with this monument the king who was the architect of the unification of Italy.
Son of the great Charles Albert, Victor Emmanuel II succeeded him at an extremely difficult historical moment: it was March 23, 1849.
From the very next day, however, the new king decisively assumed the role of guarantor of constitutional liberties, strenuously defended against Radetsky in the encounter at Vignate and then solemnly reaffirmed with the proclamation of Moncalieri.
He then victoriously faced the second and third wars of independence, flanked by a shrewd prime minister like Camillo Benso count of Cavour, finally succeeding, in 1861, in realizing the Savoyard dream of an Italian kingdom. Victor Emmanuel II died in 1878.
The imposing and valuable monument, inaugurated with great solemnity on October 22, 1884, is the work of the sculptors Luigi Pagani and Francesco Barzaghi.
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