Cat. 150

Tipo di misura: area; Unità di misura: cm; Valore: 5x2

Pressare la cera su foglio

Il Re Denaro. Le monete raccontano Genova, fra arte, lusso e parsimonia - Genova, Palazzo della Meridiana, Febbraio - Giugno 2021

Seal with wooden handle and metal tip engraved with the letter ‘M’. In a small exhibition area inside the apartment where the Mazzini family lived and where Giuseppe was born, now home to the Mazzini Institute - Museum of the Risorgimento in Genoa, the young man's study has been reconstructed, featuring some of the tools he used for writing, some of which are on display here. From the black leather-covered document holder, engraved with the name Joseph on the flap, to the portable box with pens and inkwell, the case with small round glasses, and the cipher for secret communication. In addition to the precious notebooks from his youth, written in his unmistakable tiny handwriting on thin tissue paper (the Zibaldoni), there is also a double metal seal engraved with the initial “M” on one side and Giuseppe's nickname, 'Pippo', as he was affectionately called by family and friends.
These are particularly significant relics because they reveal the enormous importance that writing and letters had in Mazzini's life, fundamental elements for his political and revolutionary activity. Through his frequent, tireless letters, he was able to guide the Italian Risorgimento movements from afar, keeping his teachings alive. These letters also show us the man behind the thinker and are invaluable in reconstructing the memory of a complex hero, capable of great emotional outbursts and marked by a profound humanity.

GAF2024.1

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 73; Larghezza: 126

olio su tela

The painting depicts a pregnant woman in a factory while she is assembling a bullet with a blowtorch.

Cat. 313 bis

Indossare

White waistcoat decorated with red and green lines, tricolour stripes. Dress belonging to Giuseppe Mazzini.

161

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 71,5; Larghezza: 57,5

olio su tela

The painting dramatically depicts the well-known episode of the execution of the brothers Attilio and Emilio Bandiera, who were executed by firing squad in Cosenza on 25 July 1844, after a failed attempt to raise the Calabrian populations against the reign of Ferdinand II with a view to Italian national unification. In the lower part of the painting, the two brothers lie on the ground enveloped in a cloud of dust, while on the left, the firing squad has already raised its rifles. On the right, some comrades of the Brotherhood of Good Death are already ready for their task, which was to take care of the bodies of those condemned to death.

Cat. 315

Scrivere.

Goose feather used for writing. Giuseppe Mazzini used it in Genoa, at Felice Dagnino's house, in November 1871 to sign the Pact of Brotherhood, or the union between the Workers' Mutual Aid Societies, a union inspired by Mazzini and Saffi. The document, also on display in the museum, was then approved by the 12th Congress of Italian Workers' Societies held in Rome in November 1871. It was donated by Felice Dagnino to the municipality in 1909.

Bicycle with wooden frame. The Littorina produced in 1938 by the Sedazzari company of Genoa represents one of the many bicycle models made during the autarkic era with an all-wood frame. In fact, even in the production of bicycles, a palliative material was used at a time when, due to the sanctions imposed against Italy after the invasion of Ethiopia, iron was in short supply.

41

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 90; Larghezza: 69

Tela-olio

Maria Drago, known as Maria Mazzini after her marriage to Giacomo Mazzini, was born in the 18th century and was the mother of four children, including Giuseppe Mazzini. A cultured and deeply religious woman, she was an emotional and moral reference point for her son, who was always very close to her. Her influence was decisive in the formation of Giuseppe's ethical and patriotic thinking. Born in Pegli (then an autonomous municipality) in 1774, she died in Genoa on 9 August 1852, during the exile of her son, who deeply mourned her loss.
The portrait of Maria Mazzini is an intense and sober work, depicting her in her mature years. The simple, dark clothing, devoid of ornaments, emphasises her reserve and her role as a devoted mother, a silent but fundamental figure in her son's education. The work fits into the context of the family and patriotic cult surrounding Mazzini's memory, celebrating not only the hero, but also the emotional and moral roots from which he was born. Portrait of Maria Mazzini in mature age dressed in dark clothes, seated and intent on reading a book.

Cat. 289

Tipo di misura: volume; Unità di misura: cm; Valore: 25x25 cm

Ludica

Two-colour cardboard chessboard with wooden pieces. The chessboard, owned by Mazzini when he was a student in Genoa in his youth, remained in the home of his sister Antonietta Massuccone, and later in that of her great-grandchildren.

Tipo di misura: altezzaxlunghezza; Unità di misura: cm; Spessore: 96x165; Tipo di misura: spessore; Unità di misura: cm; Spessore: 79

The scooter, equipped with a spare tire, was also light and maneuverable, versatile in the posture required of the driver, who, comfortably seated, could accommodate a second passenger. An icon par excellence of Made in Italy and of the economic boom, the Vespa, designed for Piaggio in Pontedera by aeronautical engineer Corradino D'Ascanio, represents a symbol of the operational ways in which Italian design made its mark internationally in the postwar years. Taking advantage of the industrial know-how of Piaggio, which was engaged in the war years in the production of warplanes, D'Ascanio's design for a new agile means of locomotion in fact included the use of the small starter engine of airplanes. In a short time the Vespa thus established itself as an emblem of the country's economic rebirth, and its planetary success was further strengthened, in the imagination of the time, by the spread of its image in films such as William Wyler's famous “Roman Holiday” (1953).