116

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 36,5; Larghezza: 28,6

olio su tavola

Andrea Gastaldi, who is listed in the museum's historical inventories as the author of the painting, is probably the young man remembered by Emanuele Celesia in his History of the University of Genoa for a rather eventful episode: on 21 June 1820, the feast day of St. Louis, a brawl broke out in the University church between students and those of the Royal College, during which Gastaldi and Mazzini were arrested. However, the protest of the other students was so strong that the directors of the Royal College were forced to request the release of the two, who were then triumphantly escorted to their homes. From that moment on, Mazzini became a figure of reference for his companions, who admired him deeply. He gathered around him the most lively, courageous and idealistic young people, beginning a journey of commitment to freedom that he would pursue without ever backing down. In portraying the exile who, against the backdrop of a typically Genoese landscape (the hills and forts), leaves his homeland, the author depicts the events of his friend, who was forced into exile in 1831, which lasted his entire life. The painting depicts Giuseppe Mazzini on his way into exile, looking back and bidding farewell to Italy.