Vittorio Emanuele II
Vittorio Emanuele II stands on Venice’s Riva degli Schiavoni, facing the hotels along the waterfront. Its bronze rider raises a drawn sword from horseback, above a base of pink Baveno granite and Istrian stone.
The Roman sculptor Ettore Ferrari created the statue in 1887 for Italy’s first king. Alessandro Nelli cast the bronze figure, chosen from forty-eight designs submitted after a Venetian committee announced a competition. The inauguration brought King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy to Venice on 1 May 1887. Restoration followed in 2011, during celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Italian unification.
At the front, Venice triumphant extends her arm beside a Marcian lion tearing the Treaty of Vienna from 1815. Behind her, Subjugated Venice sits with a broken sword while another lion bites chains imposed by Austria. Two side reliefs show the Battle of Palestro and Vittorio Emanuele II’s triumphant entry into Venice in 1866. A low bronze gate completes the scene, intertwining rifles and swords with other military symbols.
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Image: Murray FoubisterCC BY-SA 2.0 
Image: Unknown authorUnknown authorPublic domain 
Image: Carlo NayaPublic domain
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