Romantic Nationalism in Italy

The First Meeting Between Mazzini and Garibaldi (1833)

The decades-long struggle for Italian unification brought together a number of different strands of nineteenth-century nationalism. While Cavour’s vision of constitutional monarchy and economic liberalism would eventually win out, the radical republicanism of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, steeped in romantic nationalism, played a crucial role in the process. Mazzini and Garibaldi fired the public imagination with the idea of Italian cultural unity, of the unique role the Italian people could play in world events if they put aside their differences and concentrated on their shared history, culture, and traditions. In this image, created after unification had been achieved, we see Mazzini (at right) and Garibaldi (at left) meeting for the very first time in Marseille, France, in 1833. As you examine the image, focus on the details. What is Mazzini pointing at? What should we make of the crumpled papers on the floor?

De Agostini Picture Library / G. Dagli Orti / The Bridgeman Art Library.