| Excerpt |
The paper is focused on Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was an Italian general and politican, but also one of the main personalities of the Risorgimento movement unfolding in Italy during the 19th century. His character is associated with the 2025 celebration of 165 years since the Expedition of the Thousand, a decisive moment for the unification of the Italian Peninsula. In 1860, Garibaldi – the embodiment of the freedom aspiration – together with one thousand volunteers marched from the North aiming to free The Kingdom of Two Sicilies under the control of the House of Bourbon. His landings in Sicily (on May 1869) and Calabria (on August 1860) were celebrated since then by issuing medals, and the two of them kept nowadays in the collection of National History Museum of Romania represent the starting point for the article. Even though the study does not aim for a detailed numismatic analysis, it offers a historical examination of the year 1860 and inserts the medals in their political and symbolical background. Some other objects are highlighted as well: a medal which commemorates Garibaldi’s death, an officer sword, two medals out of volcanic lava etc. |