New Light on the Victor Emmanuel II Monument

School of Architecture

12:00 PM ET Wed., Mar. 12, 2025

The Vittoriano Monument, honoring Victor Emmanuel II, stands as a pivotal piece in the evolution of Roman architecture during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Please join the School of Architecture as Paolo Coen provides a deeper understanding of its role in shaping modern Rome and their urban landscape. This event was recorded on September 4, 2024.

Speakers:
Paolo Coen, Ph.D., Professor of Art History and Museum Studies at the University of Teramo.

In this richly layered lecture, Professor Paolo Coen examined the Vittoriano monument in Rome not merely as architecture, but as a symbol of the national imagination, political tension, and artistic identity of modern Italy. Designed to honor Victor Emmanuel II—the first king of a unified Italy—the Vittoriano is more than marble and bronze. It is a statement of power, a response to rising nationalism, and a deliberate effort to position Italy on par with other European empires through a crafted architectural language.

Coen traced the monument’s conception back to the political urgency of the 1870s. In a fragmented and newly unified nation, Italy needed symbols to unify its people—and the monument became a physical assertion of loyalty to the monarchy, meant to stand tall against internal threats from anarchists, the Vatican, and Bourbon loyalists. The chosen architect, Giuseppe Sacconi, designed in a style rooted in Renaissance grandeur, intentionally evoking figures like Bramante and Palladio. This Neo-Renaissance vocabulary wasn’t just aesthetic—it was ideological. It embodied a rebirth of Italian pride and a visual assertion of cultural continuity.

But the Vittoriano’s story doesn’t end with its dedication in 1911. Coen revealed new findings from recent restoration efforts, including the discovery that many bronze elements were originally gilded—an opulent gold-on-white contrast that dramatically redefines how we view the monument today. He also contextualized the role of later contributors like Armando Brasini, whose work under the fascist regime completed significant structural and symbolic components, including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the monumental quadrigas.

Perhaps most compelling was Coen’s reflection on the monument’s contested legacy. Dismissed for decades as pompous or politically compromised, the Vittoriano is slowly being reappraised. Coen argues that it’s time to view it not as nationalist propaganda but as a mirror of Italy’s aspirations and anxieties in a transformative era.

The Monument as Political Armor | [00:06:22 → 00:08:34]
The Vittoriano was conceived as a shield—physically and ideologically—to protect Italy’s fragile kingdom and memorialize Victor Emmanuel II as the father of the nation.

Sacconi’s Renaissance Revival | [00:09:38 → 00:12:09]
Giuseppe Sacconi’s design drew on Renaissance architecture to project strength, continuity, and Italian cultural identity—a choice shaped by the politics of unification and competition with Paris.

Boito’s Quiet Influence | [00:14:11 → 00:16:30]
Architect and theorist Camillo Boito played a behind-the-scenes role in shaping the monument’s style and clearing the urban landscape to make way for it—framing sacrifice as civic necessity.

Restoring Lost Splendor | [00:27:56 → 00:29:36]
Recent restoration reveals the monument’s bronzes were originally gilded, not darkened—suggesting a far more luminous and dramatic color scheme than previously thought.

Duality in Design | [00:33:11 → 00:33:47]
Brasini introduced a unique two-faced approach to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: civil on the outside, religious on the inside—addressing both state and spiritual needs.

Reevaluating Legacy | [00:38:09 → 00:39:20]
Long criticized for demolishing historic urban fabric, the Vittoriano is now being reinterpreted as a deliberate, symbolic act of nation-building—not mere destruction.

National Intent: “The Vittoriano was meant to be a strong sign of a new kingdom, right in the heart of Rome.”
— Paolo Coen [00:16:26 → 00:16:30]
Architectural Identity: “The national style was the language meant to convey the soul of the nation—adopted officially in buildings of state.”
— Paolo Coen [00:12:09 → 00:13:19]
Lost Brilliance: “The bronzes were completely gilded… not black against white, but gold against white.”
— Paolo Coen [00:28:46 → 00:29:36]
Visual Dialogue: “The statue of Victor Emmanuel was modeled on Marcus Aurelius—almost looking at each other across time.”
— Paolo Coen [00:30:31 → 00:30:35]
Hidden Sacrifice: “To make way for the monument, the urban tissue of Rome was demolished—but this was not just destruction. It was part of a thoughtful project.”
— Paolo Coen [00:38:09 → 00:38:56]
Civic and Sacred: “One side of the coffin is civil… the other, inside, is religious. It’s the same coffin, seen two ways.”
— Paolo Coen [00:33:11 → 00:33:47]
Shifting Perception: “American scholars, unlike Italians, often don’t hold prejudice against monuments like this. Now, perhaps, we’re finding the right distance to reassess our past.”
— Paolo Coen [00:31:10 → 00:31:38]
Meaning Beyond Nationalism: “In today’s democratic and anti-fascist Italy, the Vittoriano matters again—not as nationalist propaganda, but as part of European memory.”
— Paolo Coen [00:40:41 → 00:41:31]

New Light on the Victor Emmanuel II Monument

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