After centuries of foreign rule, Italy rises again as a nation.

The romantic dream of unity—sparked by Napoleon, who created the Kingdom of Italy, drew on his Ligurian and Tuscan origins, and made Milan its capital—was later carried forward by figures such as Mazzini, Garibaldi, Cavour, and Victor Emmanuel II, transforming Italy from an idea into a reality.

Rome, liberated in 1870, became the capital: a symbolic return to the heart of power.

In that moment, the world looked to Italy with admiration: a land that had once taught how to rule and then how to think was now teaching how to believe in one’s ideals.