The Turin exhibition of 1884: a place for remembering the italian Risorgimento

Abstract

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the desire to promote a national consciousness in the adult population led to the creation, in urban contexts, of places and spaces dedicated to celebrating the Italian Risorgimento. Within this framework, there were also exceptional events that involved large audiences. This was the case for the Turin exhibition in 1884, in which the present and future image of the Piedmontese capital proposed to visitors was connected with the glorious vestiges of the past: the accent placed on the new industrial vocation, symbol of modernity and progress, coexisted with the nostalgic commemoration of Turin as capital. In this article, particular attention will be focused on the Risorgimento pavilion, rich in symbols including from an architectural point of view. Particular consideration will be given to the analysis of illustrated exhibit guides and newspaper chronicles in order to identify the methods and language used to convey an interpretative model of the unification process to the public.