Museo dell’Ottocento
Garibaldi and the Thousand
Dedicated to the 19th century, this museum will warm the hearts and minds of visitors with Garibaldi’s epic story, which culminated in the unification of Italy. Located inside the keep of the Rocca, in the Scuola dei Bombardieri, the Museo del 800 offers visitors a wealth of historical objects, paintings, documents, uniforms, weapons, proclamations, medals, propaganda, and more.
They all tell the economic, social and political story of Bergamo and its surroundings during the ‘long 19th century’.
Informations
Includes visit to Rocca + Museo del Cinquecento
Full 5 €
Reduced 3€
18-26 years old, Groups of 15 people, discounts
Free
0-17 years old, Amici del Museo delle storie di Bergamo, person with disability and companion, ICOM members, accredited journalists, qualified tour guides, Abbonamento Musei Lombardia
Highlights
Portrait of Giuseppe Garibaldi
A legendary hero of the Italian Risorgimento, Giuseppe Garibaldi is a reference point for the people of Bergamo. He personally determined important events in the local Risorgimento movement. Here, as elsewhere, he trained generations of conscious, disciplined and competent fighters. From 1848 to 1860, he led the patriotic aspirations of various political groups towards the goal of an Italian kingdom under Savoy rule. For those reasons, and especially due to the close ties created with the volunteer plebiscite of the Expedition of the Thousand, Garibaldi was and is a legend in Bergamo and beyond.
Fan with Risorgimento mottos
This silk fan, bearing the patriotic Risorgimento motto Long live Italian independence, was used during performances at the Riccardi Theatre in Bergamo on the eve of the insurrection of 1848. It bears witness to how such patriotic messages became part of everyday life, thanks to red, white and green decorations and Risorgimento mottos. More specifically, the fan reminds us of the important contribution women made to the Risorgimento.
Busts of Alba Coralli and Gabriele Camozzi
The marble busts of Alba Coralli and Gabriele Camozzi, created by Augusto Felici and Vincenzo Vela respectively, honour two important figures in the Italian Risorgimento. Camozzi was from Bergamo and Coralli was from Pavia, but they met in Genoa. Their friendship and shared ideals created a strong bond of respect, collaboration and affection, and they eventually became a couple. They wed in 1859 and their relationship continued to be nourished by trust, mutual support and values, particularly their dedication to the Italian cause, which influenced every aspect of their lives, as individuals and as spouses.
Museo dell’Ottocento
Founded in 1917, during WWI, the museum dedicated to the Risorgimento forms the initial core around which the Museo delle Storie was built. In 2014, when the exhibition was redesigned, the museum was named in memory of Mauro Gelfi.
In 1933, the Museo del Risorgimento, inaugurated in 1917 in the University of Science, Humanities and Art, was moved to the keep of the Rocca.
The subsequent change in its display in 1959 didn’t deviate from its founding themes and topic, with the previous patriotic-celebratory line focusing on the local sphere, in which the Resistance nonetheless emerges, interpreted as a further struggle for the independence of the homeland.
In 1997, after being closed for 20 years, it reopened as the ‘Historical Museum of the City of Bergamo’ at the Convent of San Francesco. That provisional exhibition was updated on 7 May 2004, when it was moved to the newly restored Rocca fortress, including a name change that reflected the attention paid to the greater Bergamo area: Museo Storico di Bergamo (Bergamo Historical Museum).
Discover the museum
The eight sections of the exhibition start with the rebellion of Bergamo against the Republic of Venice, sparked by revolutionary ideas from beyond the Alps, and end with the economy, politics and society of post-unification Italy. In between is the epic tale of the Risorgimento.
01
The “revolution” of 1797
The winds of the French Revolution and its ideals reach Bergamo
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The “revolution” of 1797
Starting with a reconstruction of the tree of liberty (liberty pole), a symbol of the Republic of Bergamo erected during the revolutionary events of March 1797, this section portrays the status of the territory, from the French invasion of Italy (1796) until the collapse of the Napoleonic regime (1815). Pamphlets, declarations and allegorical prints document the short life of the Republic of Bergamo and the first Cisalpine Republic.
02
Political restoration
Following Napoleon’s defeat, Bergamo passed into the hands of the Austrian Empire
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Political restoration
In 1814, Austrian rule succeeded French rule and Bergamo became part of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. The double-headed eagle, a symbol of Viennese power, appear on central places in the city: two paintings by Luigi Deleidi show the gate of Saint Augustine and Piazza Vecchia. Gabriele Rosa spurred the opposition against Austria in the Sebino area, helping popularize Mazzini’s Giovine Italia: a passage from his autobiography can be heard next to his bust and the oath of affiliation to the political organization.
03
The uprisings of 1848-1849
Bergamo and Italy in the fervent events of the First Italian War of Independence
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The uprisings of 1848-1849
Through declarations, periodicals, weapons and uniforms, the dynamics of the revolutionary events in Bergamo are explored in relation to what was happening in the rest of Italy. The words of the Austrian Colonel Marenzi narrate the revolt of March 1848. People who would play a leading role in the Risorgimento, such as the brothers Giovanni Battista and Gabriele Camozzi, appeared on the local scene. The experience of exile due to the return of the Austrians was shared by hundreds of Lombard patriots, such as Abbot Carlo Cameroni and the Camozzi brothers themselves, some of whose documents are on display.
04
The silk economy
Beyond politics: a focus on the main product made in 19th-century Bergamo
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The silk economy
The breeding of silkworms and the production of semi-finished silk products were a large part of Bergamo’s economy during the 19th century, albeit with phases of growth and shrinkage. The reconstruction of the interior of a silk mill gives visitors a first-hand view of a silk worm box and a bowl over a flame for extracting the thread from the cocoons. Graphs and tables reconstruct the spread and development of such businesses around Bergamo, working conditions in the silk mills, and just a few of the technical innovations that local entrepreneurs introduced.
05
A changing city
Transformations and inventions in the urban fabric of 19th-century Bergamo
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A changing city
A multimedia station lets visitors explore the ‘face’ of the city during the 19th century. The audio-visual introduction indicates important aspects in the 19th century history of the forma urbis. Visitors can then explore a few thematic displays (the Risorgimento, the economy, assistance, culture and education): a map shows important places connected to each topic, with the option to read historical-artistic news about them.
06
Bergamo in 1859
Bergamo and Italy in the Second Italian War of Independence
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Bergamo in 1859
It was in Genoa, in the living room of Gabriele Camozzi and Alba Coralli (recreated as part of the exhibit), that the Garibaldi Hymn was performed in December 1859, a symbol of the coming together of patriots of different political views in the Piedmontese movement for Italian independence and unity. Notices and declarations document the liberation of Bergamo on 8 June 1859 and the progressive establishment of liberal systems in the area, the set-up of which changed as a vintage map shows.
07
Garibaldi and the Thousand
A focus on the contribution of Bergamasque volunteers to the Expedition of the Thousand
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Garibaldi and the Thousand
Bergamo produced the most volunteers for Garibaldi’s troops in the south of Italy in 1860: 174. For this reason, it was dubbed the ‘City of the Thousand’. The faces, events and motivations of the volunteers from Bergamo are reconstructed through photographic and painted portraits, weapons, uniforms, awards and letters, accompanied by a recreation of the Local Amateur Theatre, where local enlistment took place. The section ends by drawing a parallel between the creation of a legend surrounding Garibaldi and the Thousand, and the problematic reality of Southern Italy after the expedition, represented by ‘brigandage’.
08
Bergamo and Italian unity
The important role played by Bergamo in the turbulent post-unification years
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Bergamo and Italian unity
The last part of the exhibit highlights the continuous flow of volunteers from Bergamo in post-unification efforts. People linked to Garibaldi, such as Francesco Nullo and Francesco Cucchi, took part in missions ordered by the general which conflicted with the will of the government: the events in Sarnico and the Aspromonte clash of 1862, and the Roman uprising of 1867. The documents and mementos from the Risorgimento, now part of the Museum, attest to the strength of the volunteer forces alongside the decisive role played by the House of Savoy.
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