Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II The historic 1860 meeting in Naples between the leader of Italy’s revolutionary nationalists and the king of Sardinia sealed the unification of northern and southern Italy. With the sleeve of his red shirt showing, Garibaldi offers his hand — and his conquests — to the uniformed king and his moderate monarchical government. The idealized patriotism evident in this painting, completed in 1866, testifies to the growing appeal of popular nationalism.
(Detail, fresco, 1886, by Pietro Aldi [1852–1888]/Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy/Bridgeman Images)