< IT >
In Piazza Italia a Perugia si trova un'enorme statua equestre in bronzo di Vittorio Emanuele II. Il cavallo ha uno zoccolo sollevato. Sulla parte anteriore del monumento c'è un rilievo di un corpo di leone alato con testa d'aquila (?), che porta una corona e la data "14 SETTEMBRE 1890", che è probabilmente la data in cui il monumento è stato eretto. Un'altra iscrizione sul lato sinistro dice:
A
VITTORIO EMANUELE II
L'UMBRIA
LIBERATA NEL SETTEMBRE MDCCCLX
Alcune lettere dell'anno sono già mancanti. L'iscrizione sul lato destro dice:
L'ITALIA
NELLA OPERA DEL RE LIBERATORE
PRESENTÌ
IL SETTEMBRE MDCCCLXX
Anche questa iscrizione manca di alcune lettere dell'anno.
"Vittorio Emanuele II di Savoia (Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di Savoia; Torino, 14 marzo 1820 – Roma, 9 gennaio 1878) è stato l'ultimo re di Sardegna (dal 1849 al 1861) e il primo re d'Italia (dal 1861 al 1878).
Dal 1849 al 1861 fu inoltre duca di Savoia, principe di Piemonte e duca di Genova. È ricordato anche con l'appellativo di Re galantuomo, perché dopo la sua ascesa al trono non ritirò lo Statuto Albertino promulgato da suo padre Carlo Alberto.
Coadiuvato dal presidente del Consiglio Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour, portò a compimento il Risorgimento, culminato nella proclamazione del Regno d'Italia.
Per aver realizzato l'Unità d'Italia, viene indicato come Padre della Patria, così come compare nell'iscrizione nel monumento nazionale che da lui prende il nome di Vittoriano, sito a Roma, in piazza Venezia."
Fonte e ulteriori informazioni: it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Emanuele_II_di_Savoia
< EN >
On the Piazza Italia in Perugia there is a huge bronze equestrian statue of Vittorio Emanuele II. The horse has one raised hoof. On the front of the memorial is a relief of a winged lion body with an eagle(?) head, wearing a crown and the date "14 SETTEMBRE 1890", which was probably the date when the memorial was errected. Another inscription on the left side says:
TO
VICTOR EMMANUEL II
UMBRIA
LIBERATED IN SEPTEMBER MDCCCLX
Some letters of the year are already missing. The inscription on the right side says:
ITALY
IN THE WORK OF THE LIBERATING KING
PRESENTED
SEPTEMBER MDCCCLXX
This inscription is also missing some letters of the year.
"Victor Emmanuel II (Italian: Vittorio Emanuele II; full name: Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di Savoia; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was King of Sardinia from 1849 until 17 March 1861, when he assumed the title of King of Italy and became the first king of an independent, united Italy since the 6th century, a title he held until his death in 1878. Borrowing from the old Latin title Pater Patriae of the Roman emperors, the Italians gave him the epithet of Father of the Fatherland (Italian: Padre della Patria).
Born in Turin as the eldest son of Charles Albert, Prince of Carignano, and Maria Theresa of Austria, he fought in the First Italian War of Independence (1848–1849) before being made King of Piedmont-Sardinia following his father's abdication. He appointed Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, as his Prime Minister, and he consolidated his position by suppressing the republican left. In 1855, he sent an expeditionary corps to side with French and British forces during the Crimean War; the deployment of Italian troops to the Crimea, and the gallantry shown by them in the Battle of the Chernaya (16 August 1855) and in the siege of Sevastopol led the Kingdom of Sardinia to be among the participants at the peace conference at the end of the war, where it could address the issue of the Italian unification to other European powers. This allowed Victor Emmanuel to ally himself with Napoleon III, Emperor of France. France had supported Sardinia in the Second Italian War of Independence, resulting in liberating Lombardy from Austrian rule.
Victor Emmanuel supported the Expedition of the Thousand (1860–1861) led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, which resulted in the rapid fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in southern Italy. However, Victor Emmanuel halted Garibaldi when he appeared ready to attack Rome, still under the Papal States, as it was under French protection. In 1860, Tuscany, Modena, Parma and Romagna decided to side with Sardinia-Piedmont, and Victor Emmanuel then marched victoriously in the Marche and Umbria after the victorious Battle of Castelfidardo over the Papal forces. This led to his excommunication from the Catholic Church until 1878, just before his death in the same year. He subsequently met Garibaldi at Teano, receiving from him the control of southern Italy and becoming the first King of Italy on 17 March 1861.
In 1866, the Third Italian War of Independence allowed Italy to annex Veneto. In 1870, Victor Emmanuel also took advantage of the Prussian victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War to conquer the Papal States after the French withdrew. He entered Rome on 20 September 1870 and set up the new capital there on 2 July 1871. He died in Rome in 1878, and was buried in the Pantheon."
Source and further information: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_II