Cosgrove Urban Rhetoric and Embodied Identities

Urban Rhetoric and Embodied Identities: City, Nation, and Empire at the Vittorio Emanuele II
Monument in Rome, 1870-1945

Author(s): David Atkinson and Denis Cosgrove
Source: Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 88, No. 1 (Mar., 1998), pp.
28-49
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of American Geographers
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2563975 .
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UrbanRhetoricand EmbodiedIdentities:
city,Nation,and Empireat theVittorio
EmanueleII Monumentin Rome,
1870-1945
David Atkinson*and Denis Cosgrove"*
*Department
ofGeography,
University
ofWales,Lampeter
**Department
ofGeography,
RoyalHolloway,
University
ofLondon
Thisessayexamines
themonument
constructed
bytheItalianstatein thecenterofRometo
commemorate
Vittorio-Emanuele
II,first
kingofunited
in
Italy.
Openedin1911andconstructed
theBeaux-Arts
architectural
stylepopularat thattimeas appropriately
"imperial"
forurban
monuments
throughout
theWest,
theVittoriano's
symbolism
andiconography
produce
a "memory
theater"
whichtheofficial
rhetoric
through
ofa unitedandimperial
Italywasintended
to be
conveyed
tothenation.Yet
despite
attempts
bysucceeding
topromote
governments
itasa dignified
andsacredcenter
ofthecity,
thenation,
andtheshort-lived
Italianempire,
themonument
has
beenderided
itshistory.
on "official
throughout
weanalyze
Concentrating
culture,"
theform
and
ofthemonument,
iconography
tracethevarious
planning
interventions
madebybothLiberal
and
Fascist
governments
between
thewarsthatemphasized
theVittoriano's
centrality
within
urban
spaceandItalianterritory,
andcomment
on itsusebytheItaliandictator,
BenitoMussolini,
to
animperial
promote
spatiality
through
hisperformative
rhetoric,
which
often
unfolded
while
facing
themonument
inthePiazzaVenezia.
Whileurbanistic
andterritorial
interventions
emphasized
horizontal
burial
ofa crypt
axialities,
andconstruction
forItaly's
Unknown
Soldier
atthemonument
a vertical
axisthatlinked
produced
sacrifice
andpastheroism
military
toaerialflight
andfuture
within
theFascist
victory
cultofmaleyouth.KeyWords:
Italy,Fascism,
imperialism,
monument,
Rome.
We willneverknowwhatthe monument
willbe
whenitisfinished,
andforthoseofourdescendants
in a remotefuture
whowillsee thefinished
work,
timewillhavewrought
itsownlabours,
whichmake
everyruinappearvenerableand beautiful
(L'Illustrazione
Italiana,
November
6, 1921,citedinGentile
1996; 12).
eldomhas thenationalmonument
of a
leadingWestern
Europeannationendured
I
thecasualand almostuniversal
vilification
of Rome'smonumentto VittorioEmanueleII
(Figure1). The sentiments
expressedin L'IllustrazioneItaliana,only ten yearsafterits 1911
inauguration,
alreadycarrytheairofa somewhat
forlorn
hope thattime'spatinamightgive"The
Altarof the Nation" a greaterdignity.
These
hopeshave not been realized.On the slopesof
Rome'sCapitolineHill,themassiveconfection
of
brilliantwhitecolumns,cornices,and heavy
statuary,
toppedby cast-ironVictorychariots,
commemorates
thefounding
monarchofunited
Italy.In addition,its sober,symbolic

functions
includecelebrating
theunification
of the state,
honoring
Italianmilitary
forces,
housingtheremainsof the ItalianUnknownSoldier,and accommodating
theeternalflamein remembrance
of all the nation'swar dead. The monument
punctuates
a keypointinurbanspace,situatedat
thejunctionbetweenthearchaeological
zoneof
the ClassicalForoRomano-the medievaland
baroquecityofthePopes-and thenineteenthcenturyurbanization
of the post-Risorgimento
Liberalcapital.Yetto mostItalians,theVittorio
Emanuele II monumentis more colloquially
knownas II Vittoriano,
and to theRomanswho
pass byeveryday,as "The WeddingCake" or
"The False Teeth."Liberating
Rome in 1944,
Americantroopslabeledit "The Typewriter,"
a
sobriquetthereafter
adoptedby Romans.The
Vittorianoeven comes underattackfromthe
genreof seriousguidebooksthatusuallyretail
theofficial
uncritically
meanings
ascribedtosuch
AnnalsoftheAssociation
ofAmerican
Geographers,
88(1), 1998,pp. 28-49
(? 1998byAssociation
ofAmericanGeographers
Published
byBlackwellPublishers,
350 MainStreet,Malden,MA 02148,and 108CowleyRoad,Oxford,
OX4 1JF,
UK.

and EmbodiedIdentities
UrbanRhetoric
*.
...
... ..
..!.i
29
. .....
ef
is to therightofthemonument,
theForo
lookingeast.The Campidoglio
Figure1. AerialviewoftheVittoriano
Romanobehind.To theleft,theVia dei ForiImpeniali
leadsto theColiseum.
monuments
andsymbols
ofnationalgovernment
(Barthes1986; Duncan and Duncan 1992). In
1903, AugustusHare's venerableguidebook
Walksin Romedismissed
the not-yet-completed
monumentas "pretentious"
(Hare 1903). The
current
English-language
BlueGuidelabelsit"an
unforgivable
intrusion
intothecentreofthecity
[that]can onlybe describedas a colossalmonstrosity"
(Macadam1994:56, 72). Lessreverent
stillis The RoughGuideto Italy,
the self-styled
"back-packer's
bible,"whichrevilesthe"hideous
whitemarbletypewriter"
as "without
question.
. . a pompous,
overweening
structure,
toobig,too
white.. . andaltogether
et
tooboastful"
(Belford
al. 1990:586). Itsstudentclienteleis advisedto
visitnearbyMedievaland Renaissancechurches
instead-inTheRoughGuide'sopinion,farmore
A
worthy
of theirinterest
thantheVittoriano.
grandiose
statement
ofofficial
culturehas seemthanto
inglyfallenvictimless to contestation
publiccontempt.
Ouraiminthispaperistoexaminethevarious
attemptsmade by the ItalianState to define
nationalidentity
andpurposethrough
themonument'sdesign,
itslocationinurbanspace,andthe
ofstaterituals
performance
within
andaroundit.
Weplacespecific
on theuniquecircumemphasis
stancesofRomeas a historic
cityand Italyas a
territorial
and geopolitical
entityto explorethe
rhetoric
ofmonumental
space.
Memorialization
andtheStudyof
Monuments
SinceDavidHarvey(1979) analyzedtheideologicalconteststhatsurrounded
thebuildingof
theSacreCoeurBasilicaat Montmartre
in Paris,
thegeographical
andlanddiscussion
ofmemory
scape has developedsignificantly.
Harveywas
concernedto read Sacre Coeurin termsof the
late-nineteenth-century
struggle
betweencapital
and laborin theguiseofthebourgeois
Catholic
and proletarian
Socialistculturesthat had so
riventheFrenchcapitalduringthedays
starkly
of the Commune.More thana decade of subsequentstudyhas produceda well-established
culturalcritiqueof memoriallandscapes,along
witha sensitivity
tothepolyvocality
ofofficial
and
popularmemorialization
(Duncan 1992; Forster
1982;Johnson1994;Strohmayer
1996;Withers

30
AtkinsonandCosgrove
1996). JamesDuncan (1992), forexample,has

can be conexaminedhownarratives
ofkingship
testedwithina singlelandscape,whileitsmeanings remain bounded within a broad
socioreligious
consensus;whilein a studyofpuband twentieth-cenlicmemorials
in nineteenthturyIreland,Nuala Johnson(1994, 1995) has
identities
demonstrated
how different
historical
havebeenmobilized
and
withinIrishnationalism
to thehegemonic
contested,
oftenin resistance
colonialrule.
powerofBritish
a broadly
Theserecentstudiesworkfrom
postinthesenseof
structural
thathistory,
recognition
a single,official,
arandsuperordinate
narrative,
ticulatedby privilegedelites and capable of
in specific
univocalarticulation
spacesormonufrommorepopuments,cannotbe disassociated
andmyths
larandwidelyshared"memories"
that
andplural(Crang1994;Saarefluid,contested,
muel 1995; Withers 1996). Mona Domosh
(1996) forexample,revealshow contemporary
aboutgenderwerearticulated
and
assumptions
challengedin the construction
of a Women's
Buildingat the 1893 ColumbianExpositionin
Chicago, and forLondon, Stephen Daniels's
(1993)fluent
commentary
uponSt.Paul'sCathedralrevealsa complexweavingofshifting
meaningsandassociations
projected
ontoandcaptured
a monumental
within
nationalicon.Itisapparent
thatanyintention
toexpressa fixedanddiscrete
set ofcollectivemeaningsin themateriallandscape is inevitably
altered,renderedmobileand
open to alternativeand even contradictory
readings.
The Vittoriano
in Romeoffers
thepossibility
ofapproaching
theissueofmonumental
history
froma slightly
different
perspective.
So complete
hasbeenthesubversion
byhumorous
derision
of
thegrandiosemessageintendedbyitsdesigners
seemsless appropriate
a term
thatcontestation
thanaffectionate
The moreinteresting
dismissal.
is to recover
taskin the case of the Vittoriano
intended
andofficial
ofthemonument's
something
andtoexaminehowa changing
Italian
meanings,
State has soughtto concretizethe alwaysfluid
and elusiveidea ofItalianness
through
locating,
and usingthe Vittorianoas an
constructing,
iconicnationalmonument.
We focuson Liberal
and FascistItalybetween1882 and 1943,when
thisstructure,
intendedas theembodiment
of
was conceived,designed,
italianita
[Italianness],
built,decorated,and insertedintotherichand
complicated contexts of twentieth-century
Rome.
The exploration
of officialnarratives
of the
Vittoriano
maycontribute
towards
thegeographical discussionof memoriallandscapesin four
incarnamainways.First,in itsmanyhistorical
tions,Romemorethananyothersinglecityhas
provided
modelsandtemplates-architecturally,
urbanistically,
ideologically,
andnarratively-for
thedesignand formofcapitalcitiesin theWest
(Onians 1988; Schama 1995;Agnew1995). As
imperial
cosmopolis
ofAntiquity,
as Renaissance
and Baroque spiritualcapitalof Christendom,
and as monumental
ruinin thePiraneseanEnRomeis a profoundly
lightenment
imagination,
complexand deeplylayeredhistorical-symbolic
and Edlandscape(Bondanella1987;Liversidge
initsurban
wards1995).1Anymajorintervention
spacesand appearancemustnegotiatethesehisA
toricalcomplexities,
layers,and associations.
in Rome,more
nationalmonument
constructed
in Paris,
perhapsthan a similarintervention
or London,offers
to
Washington,
opportunities
in urbanspace
exploretherhetorical
expression
themesas national
ofsuchpolitical-geographical
andempire.
identity,
territory,
Second,therecurrentdiscourseoftheVittoriano's
iconography
is
embodiment.
Fromits initialconceptionas an
and transcendence
honaltar,a placeofsacrifice
oringthedead king,to theburialofthebodyof
an unidentified
soldierinitsvaults,theVittoriano
has referred,
morethanto anyabstractsymbolism, to the humanbody as its centralrepresentational motif and as a focus for its
the
performative
rolewithinthecity.Examining
monumentoffersopportunities
to incorporate
thesignificance
ofphysical,
into
bodilyspatialities
theinterpretation
ofurbanmeanings
andmonumental landscapes (Domosh 1996; Sennett
1994).
identities
Third,webelievethatthecontested
ofmemorial
landscapesarenotsolelypoliticalin
sense.AndrewCharlesworth's
anynarrow
(1994)
forexample,
the
studyofAuschwitz,
incorporates
withinhighly
emotive
politicsofsacredmemory
andcontentious
debatessurrounding
thememoriallandscapesoftheHolocaust(see also Young
1993). Publicmonuments,
especiallythoseinan imagined
tendedtoencapsulate
nationalspirit
oridentity,
seektomaterialize
ideasofthesacred,
In thecase
themystical,
and thetranscendental.
notionsofemoftheVittoriano,
transhistorical
pireand nationare amongtheseideas,forit is
clearthatthemonument
is intendedto invoke
memories
ofpastRomes.Thisleadstoourfourth
thestructuring
roleof
concern,to demonstrate

UrbanRhetoric
in monumental
rhetoric
landscapes.In Italyas
elsewherein the partsof Europemoststrongly
influenced
bytheurbancultureofClassicalAntiquity,
consciousattention
torhetoric,
spectacle,
and displayhas neverceasedto shapelandscape
designanduse incities(Benevolo1994).Rhetoricoriginated
as a techniqueofconvincing
and
persuasive
argumentation
inurbanpublicspaces,
anditwascloselyalliedto theartsofmemory.
In
thissense,theVittoriano
mightbe regarded
as a
a rhetorical
memory
theater,
deviceformanipulatingpublicmemory
(Yates1966;NeveandSantoro1989).
We openwitha briefdiscussion
ofthecityof
Romein 1870,themomentofthecity'sincorporationintotheItalianstate.Wethenoutlinestate
efforts
tomobilizeRome'slandscapeandtouse a
particular
monumental,
neoclassicalformofarchitecture
todefinean imperial
in
Italianidentity
the culturalcontextof late nineteenth-century
We thenturnto theVitEuropeannationalism.
at three
torianoitself,
examining
its spatialities
scales.Locally,interms
ofRome'surbanplanand
theformand positionoftheVittomorphology,
theinternal
rianoreordered
spacesofRomeand
immediately
renderedthe monumenta crucial
and identities
actorin themultilayered
histories
oftheEternalCity.Geographically,
thelocation
as
oftheVittoriano
wasdeliberately
manipulated
the symbolic
heartof the Italianpeninsulaand
theceremonial
centerofthenewFascistempire.
we examinetherhetorical
construction
Finally,
of a verticalaxis of meaningat theVittoriano,
thebodyofan
from
earthtoskythrough
reaching
entombed
withintheVittorianonymous
soldier,
ano to represent
all Italy'swardead. In closing,
failure
ofItaliangovwe return
to theconsistent
ernments'
to fixthefluidmeaningsof
attempts
in thespacesofthe
empire,
nation,and identity
Vittoriano.
Historical
ofModern
Geographies
RomeandtheMakingofa Capital
whilemany
Duringthe nineteenth
century,
and
otherEuropeancitiesrapidlyindustrialized
andarea,andwhile
expandedinbothpopulation
Europeancolonialempireswereextendedglobcenterofthegreatest
Clasally,Rome,erstwhile
sical empire,remaineda small,antiquatedcity,
controlled
by the Pope and a smallnumberof
families.
traditional
aristocratic
Romewaslargely
andtheimpress
bypassed
byindustry,
commerce,
31
of nineteenth-century
modernity,
so much so
thateven in 1870, it was not unusualto see
shepherds
watering
theirflocksin thecity'spiazzas. The populationof some 212,000 (Agnew
1995),was composedprimarily
ofclerics,other
holyorders,a rentieraristocracy,
and a populationof shopkeepers,
hawkers,
and beggarswho
revolvedaroundthepilgrims
andcultural
tourists
visiting
theEternalCity.
Despiteall ofthis,thecityofRomeremained
the ultimateprizeof Italy'sRisorgimento:
the
processbywhich,between1859 and 1870,the
variousprincipalities,
kingdoms,
and occupied
territories
oftheItalianpeninsulaweregradually
incorporated
by the north-Italian
kingdomof
Piedmontintothenewnation-state
of Italy.In
1861,thelastpartofItalyto remainoutsidethe
newlyproclaimed
statewasthePapalTerritories,
bisecting
thepeninsulafromtheAdriaticto the
theircenterbeingthe holycityof
Tyrrhenian,
Rome.The infantItaliankingdom
finally
occupiedthecityin 1870onlywhentheFrenchtroops
whohad guaranteed
thePapacy'ssecularpower
leftRome to defendFranceagainstPrussia.To
Italiannationalists
everywhere,
the incorporationof RomeintoItaliameantthatthenation
had finally
achievedterritorial
unityforthefirst
timesince Antiquity.
The priority
was now to
renderPapalRomea fitting
andappropriate
capitalforthenewItaly.
the
Immediately
plans were laid to transfer
businessofgovernance
fromFlorenceto Rome.
Inspiredbythedesireto makeRomea modern
with
Europeancapitalable to standcomparison
ParisorLondon,a commission
wasestablished
to
theformer
transform
papal capitalintoa proud
materialexpression
of thenew nation'smodernity(Kostof1973).Thisproject,entitledRomaa seriesofdebatesaboutthe
Capitale,prompted
bestwaytodirectandorderthegrowth
ofthecity
(Borsi1963,1980).At thesametime,thousands
civilservants,
of bureaucrats,
parliamentarians,
soldiersand diplomats,
and theassociatedparaall descendeduponthe
phernaliaofgovernment
city.Rome experienceda massiveincreasein
population and a concomitantexplosionof
Lack of cooperation
speculativedevelopment.
betweennationaland citygovernment,
an abcivicfinances,inadequate
sence of appropriate
and the failureto enforce
buildingregulations,
was
meantthatthedevelopment
anymaster-plan
to
largelyunregulated,
foreclosing
anyattempts
scale
plan the capitalat the broader,
city-wide
was
(Agnew1995;Kostof1973). Rome'sgrowth

32
Atkinson
andCosgrove
thus piecemeal;the citygovernment

was frequentlyobligedto follow,ratherthanlead, the
developers.
Failing to realize its grandiose planning
nevertheless
sucschemes,thenewgovernment
itsarrivalthrough
individual
ceededin marking
projectsat keypointsin thecity.The rhetorical
andpubsignificance
ofRome'sexisting
statuary
lic monuments
could not be ignored,and the
profoundly
anticlerical
natureoftheLiberalstate,
whichhad alreadyappropriated
manyreligious
ensuredthat
buildings
forgovernment
purposes,
a hugeequestrian
statueofGaribaldi
waserected
the
on theGianiculum
Hill,directly
overlooking
Vatican.Meanwhile,in 1889,whenprivatefinance,supported
bythecitygovernment,
erected
a statueofGiordanoBruno,thesixteenth-cenand "heretic"on thesitewherehe
turythinker
a propapal
wasburntto deathbytheInquisition,
mobbattledinthePiazzadeiFioriwithsupporters
ofthesecularstate.Elsewhere,
as Gentile(1996)
secularanniversaries
notes,attempts
tocelebrate
and heroesalso prompteddemonstrations
and
clashes. In responseto the oppositionof the
Church(whichconstantly
threatened
excommuin the
nicationforany Catholicparticipating
democratic
processesofthenewstate),thegova numberof high-profile
ernmentconstructed
new
publicbuildings
alongsidewideand straight
streets.
The hugeMinistry
ofJustice
was
building
erectedjustbeyondtheVaticanwalls.Likeother
newpublicbuildings
suchas theBankofItaly,the
NationalExhibitionHall, and the Ministry
of
ina neoclassical,
BeauxFinance,itwasdesigned
Artsstyle:intendedto expressthenewinternationalstandingof the Italianstate(Boco et al.
1995;Insolera1980;Schroeter
1978;Tobia1991,
1996; Williams1992). This same architectural
nagenre,inspiredby late-nineteenth-century
tionalismand the imperialpretentions
of the
Europeanpowers,was chosenforthemostdramaticof all theseprojects:the monumentto
EmanueleII.
Vittorio
As Johnson(1994) pointsout, the intense
nationalism
of thelateryearsofthenineteenth
centurygave riseto widespreadand sustained
acrossEuropeand NorthAmericato
attempts
nationalhistories
monucommemorate
through
ments.Moreover,the late nineteenthcentury
also witnessedthevigorousexpansionof EuroAmericanglobalimperialism.
And as JohnMacKenzie (1986) and EdwardSaid (1993) have
a cultural
had as significant
argued,imperialism
of thecolonizersas upon
impactin theterritory
thelandsthatwerecolonized.FelixDriverand
David Gilbert(1996) haveoutlinedsomeofthe
had
waysin whichthe culturesof imperialism
impactuponthemetropolitan
landscapesofthe
imperial
capitals.The headycombination
ofnathatinfused
tionalprideandimperial
confidence
in theclosingdecpoliticaland civicdiscourses
ades ofthenineteenth
century
ensuredthat,in
manycases,thecapitalcitiesofEuropeannations
andempires
werereplanned
andreconstructed
to
expressa newlyconceived national-imperial
identity.
The mostprestigious
andself-conscious
elementsof theserecastcityscapeswere large
publicmonuments
thatsoughttolocateandemand meanbodynationaland imperial
identities
ingsin keymetropolitan
locations.
The architecturaland decorativestyleof
Rome'snationalmonumentplaces it withina
loose category
ofwhathave cometo be seen as
of bourgeois
bombastic,overblownexpressions
highculturethrough
whichtheclassically
educatedeliteofthelate-nineteenthandearlytwentheir
tieth-century
Europeanpowersemblazoned
capitalcitiesand announcedtheirnations'pride
andstatus.FromGarnier's
OperaHouse of1875
in Paris,to Admiralty
Arch,theVictoriaMemorialof 1911 and Buckingham
Palace'sfacadeof
suchas
1913in London,tomonumental
districts
thePlace Royalein Brusselsand UnionStation
in Washington,
commonBeaux-Arts
motifs
and
an overbearing
scale characterized
thesefin-dein bothEuropeand theNew
sieclemonuments
World.Their ornate,neosclassicaldesignlanand celebrated
aboveall
guagewas championed
in a seriesof"world"
fairsand"universal"
exhibitions.The style's
dominance
at the1893Chicago
Columbian Exposition,coincidingwith the
heightofEuro-American
globalimperium,
signifieda modified
mabutstillclearlyrecognizable
and urbanistic
nipulationof the architectural
motifsof imperialRome in orderto relatethe
herimodernnationalmetropolis
toa continuous
tage of Europeanculturalsupremacy(Gilbert
1991).2 Marbleand whitelimestonewere the
favored
Corinthian
andCombuilding
materials,
thedecorative
positeordersdefined
styleofgrand
and columns,whilemonuarches,pediments,
mentalstatuary
andtherecurrent
personification
of "Victory"
in bronzeor marblerecalledthe
ofClassicalRomancities.Forboth
iconography
the establishedglobal empiresof Britainand
colonialamFrance,andforthemoreembryonic
bitionsofBelgium,
ortheinfant
Italian
Germany,
architectural
themesandurbandestate,similar

UrbanRhetoricand EmbodiedIdentities
andiconogsign,harking
backto thedecoration
declaredan "Age
raphyoftheclassicalempires,
andinscribed
intothe
ofEmpire"
theirsentiments
clearly
Westerncapitalcity.These sentiments
characterizeRome's monumentto Vittorio
EmanueleII.
oftheMonument:
Geographies
Embodying
Italy
1878.
VittorioEmanueleII died in January,
a commission
had beenesWithinfourmonths,
tablished
statetoraisea monument
bytheinfant
competition
was
inhismemory.
An international
won in late 1881 bytheFrencharchitectPaulattendHenryNenot,althoughthecontroversy
ing his victoryensuredthathis schemewould
neverbe realized(Dickie 1994). Amidaccusathe
tionsofplagiarism
andpoliticalinterference,
was reopenedwitha new rangeof
competition
in late 1882.3The monument
was to be
criteria
slopeof
sitedin PiazzaVeneziaon thenorthern
the CapitolineHill-at the symbolicheartof
Rome,adjacenttoboththeForoRomanoandthe
that
Campidoglio
(Figure2). The rulesprescribed
"an equestrianstatuewith
it shouldconstitute
architectural
backdropand suitablestairs"(Kosthe
tof1973:57). Fromitsinception,
therefore,
monument
was intendedas a highlyrhetorical
pieceofurbanscenography.
The parameters
of the second competition
thusset,theeventualvictorwastheItalianarchitect GiuseppeSacconi, who oversawthe first
in spring1885.
stagesofconstruction
beginning
Sacconi designedhis entryin theinternational
fashionofthedayand employed
theBeaux-Arts
architectural
transstylethathadso dramatically
ParisundertheSecondEmpire.The realformed
ized monumentwould take the formof a
three-level
acropolisformedout of whiteBrescianmarble.The lowest,base level,setatopan
ascent of stairs,would be an altar to Dea
Roma-the mythical
goddessofRomeandsecular spiritof the EternalCity.The secondlevel
ofthe
wouldbe devotedto thecommemoration
late kingwhoseequestrianstatuesurmounted
Dea Roma.The greatstylobate
ofthethirdlevel
would supporta porticoof sixteencomposite
columnsto risehighabove the Romanskyline,
tothemonument
backdrop
providing
spectacular
anditsstatuary,
andtoanypublicspeakermaking
an addressfromthelowerlevels.Gold lettering
thetwin
on theporticoofeitherwingproclaimed
33
seculardeitiesofCiviumLibertas
(ofthecitizens)
and PatriaeUnitas(ofthenation),in overtdefiance oftheCatholicdomesand towersofRome
(Porzio1986).
Everywhere
on themonument,
thesculptural
decorationwas explicitly
symbolicand almost
The wholeconstruction
entirely
figural.
wascenteredupontheclassicalfigures
ofDea Romaand
the equestrianstatueof VittorioEmanueleII,
mythicand historicalindividuals,
respectively,
whorepresented
theancientunity
ofItalyandthe
reborn nation-state.Elsewhere around the
monument,
statuesand mosaicsdominatedthe
of the structure,
decorationand iconography
in a memory
playingtheroleof figures
theater
a mythopoetic
narrative
thatprompts
of Italian
unitylinkedto the geographical
spaces of the
peninsula.On thetopmostfrieze,
atop thecolumnsoftheportico,thesixteenregionsofItaly
in
arerepresented
bya paradeofclassicalfigures
Roman togas. Below them,surrounding
the
plinthupon whichVittorioEmanuele'sstatue
by
stands,the citiesof Italyare also portrayed
iconicfigures,
garbedin the medievalcostume
to theircity'speriodofpoliticalfloappropriate
rescence.Dea Roma in Classicaldressstands
separateandupright
at thecenterofthenation's
altar(Figure3). Aroundher,allegoricalfigures
construction
developthemonument's
rhetorical
ofa virtuous
Philosophy,
Italianhistory:
Justice,
and War.Abovethewholeedifice,theoutcome
and apotheoofthestoryis embodiedin Victory
sizedin thetwolaurel-wielding
charioteers
who,
thepavilsincethelate 1920s,havesurmounted
At itsbase,flanking
ionwingsofthemonument.
thecentralstairway,
twofountains
the
represent
Adriaticand theTyrrhenian
seas,to theeastand
westrespectively
oftheItalianpeninsula.
The monument
of
developsa heroicnarrative
Italianhistory,
historicalreferences
to
figuring
motif
ofthehumanbody.
empireintherecurrent
The Dea Romaand theequestrian
statueofthe
kinggesturedirectlyto MichaelangeloBuonarotti's
designfortheadjacentCapitolinesquare,
withits originalclassicalpersonification
of the
statue
goddessRomeand itsantiqueequestrian
of theemperorMarcusAurelius.These blatant
visualanalogieslayexplicitclaimto thememory
ofClassicalRomeandtoa reunited
Italythrough
allusiontotheCapitoline-atoncethecapitalof
a unitedpeopleandthehillintowhichthemonumentwas built.The inscribedinvocationsto
Gives(citizens)and Patria(nation)declarethe
secular,nationalgoalsofLiberalItaly,whilethe

Atkinsonand Cosgrove
34
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PALACEOF JUSTICE
-s
Figure
Li:
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xx
indicating
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ofItaly
statuespersonifying
thecitiesandregions
projectof
combineto recordthe Risorgimento
independent
and disparate
unifying
traditionally
politiesintoa singlenation.The ensemblepuncinbrilliant
whitemartuatestheRomanhorizon,
international
style,
ble4andin thecontemporary
of
thereby
declaring
thepresenceand intentions
theItalianstateand contesting
theskyline
with
thedomeofSt. Peter'sBasilicaacrosstheTiber.
The UrbanSpatialities
ofthe
Vittoriano
In additionto theiconography
ofthemonument,the efforts
to renderthe Vittorianothe
repository
of a nascentItaliannationalidentity
hadimpactdirectly
uponthespacessurrounding
themonument.
Fromthescale ofthelocal dis-
..
.. .
..
11
Suc:J.Jyo
thewiderscalesofcity,nation,and
trict,
through
empire,theVittoriano
was thefocusofvarious
it
urbaninterventions
thatsoughtto centralize
withintheItaliancapitaland,in turn,withinthe
Italianstateand empire.In termsofthematerial
inwhichitstood,aswellas ofits
builtenvironment
weremadeto
intrinsic
design,consciousefforts
as thesymbolic
heartof
negotiatetheVittoriano
(Figure
4).
thenationatthehubofItalianterritory
ofthesecondcomOne ofthekeystipulations
todesignthemonument
wasthatthesite
petition
hadtobe thenorth-facing
slopeoftheCapitoline
Hill. The symbolicsignificanceof this locaacropolisuponwhich
tion-againstthemythical
Romewasfounded-wasbyno meansaccidental
(Dickie1994).The CapitolineHillhadbeenthe
siteof the short-lived
RomanRepublicthat,in
themid-fourteenth
hadresisted
therule
century,
ofthePapacy(Hibbert1985).5Yetmoresignifi-

UrbanRhetoric
andEmbodiedIdentities
35
thenewstatewithancientRomeandtomakean
immediatetrans-historical
and spatialconnectionbetweenthenationalmonument
ofmodern
Italyand the Classical empirethat had once
sprung
fromthesamehill.
Thus themonument
had a symbolic
location
within
thecityitself,
one thatwasmadestillmore
significant
bya seriesofurbanalterations
taking
~~~~~~~~~~~.. placeduringthedecadesofitsconstruction.
A~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~s
The
Vittoriano
was meantto consecratethenationmakingofLiberalItaly(Gentile1993),and even
at themostbasiclevelofitssitewithinRome,the
monument
asserteda centrality
to the city.Its
locationon theCapitolineterminated
theaxisof
theVia del Corsoleadingnorthto thePiazzadel
Popolo,thetraditional
gatewayfromthecityto
thenorthofItaly.BysitingtheVittoriano
at this
southern
terminus
ofPapal Rome'scentralaxis,
Fiur 3. A. Zanli "De Roa (125 Thesotaugof
thearchitectural
competition
established
theVittheSpirit
ofRomestands
attheSbase
: oftheV*ttoriano. torianoat thecoreofRome,itsmass,style,and
heightfurther
recentering
thecity(see Figure4).
Further,
as theconstruction
oftheVittoriano
slowlyprocededbetween1885 and 1911, the
district
immediately
adjacentto thegrowing
pile
was redesigned
to accommodate
theedificeand
to lendita moreimposing
and grandiose
setting
at theheartof Rome (Racheli1980). In 1882,
PiazzaVeneziahadbeenlittlemorethana narrow
openingin frontoftheAustrianembassyat Pathe celebrationof classicalRome,laterto be
lazzoVenezia.To thesouth(infront
oftheCapiactivelypromoted
underFascism(Visser1992).
tolineand on thesiteoftheVittoriano)
Itisincreasingly
recognized
was the
thatnotionsofrecapPalazzettoVenezia,a wingof thefifteenth-centuring
a classicalromanitA?already
playeda partin
turyPalazzoVenezia.To theeastwasthePalazzo
thenation-making
projectofLiberalItaly.During
the 1911World'sFairthatcelebrated
thefiftieth Torlonia.The Via del Corsoenteredthesquare
in itsnortheastern
obliquely,
anniversary
corner.
oftheItalianstate,andduring
The second
which
Rome plan of 1883 proposedthatthe Palazzo
theVittoriano
wasofficially
inaugurated,
theantoallowPiazzaVeneziato
cientBathsofDiocletianhad been transformed Torloniabe demolished
be reconstructed
intoa large-scale
as a grander
"Exhibition
oftheProvinces
and morespacious
of
the RomanEmpire"thatemphasizedthe "Rosquare (Kostof1973). Alreadya moresuitable
man" inheritance
of the modernItalianstate
and sizeablepublicforecourt
to themonument
(Strong1911; Piantoni1980). Likewise,
was beingenvisaged.These sentiments
theleadfound
ing archaeologist
of the day,RodolfoLanciani,
material
effect
withthesubsequent
demolition
of
hadbeencommissioned
to mapandreconstruct PalazzoTorloniaand partsoftheimmediate
disa historical
geography
ofClassicalRomeforpubtrict,including
themedievaltowerofPope Paul
lic display,
whiletherhetoric
ofleadingLiberal
III. To further
accommodate
theexpandedPiazza
politicians
confirmed
thattheirsecularstatewas
Veneziaand to open up stillmorepublicspace
onlytooeagertoassociateitself
withtheClassical
beforetheVittoriano,
a newPalazzoTorloniawas
Romanempire-suggesting
thatItalywasfinally builton theeasternsideofthePiazzain 1908.It
unitedbytheruleofRomeforthefirst
timein a
mirrored
thePalazzoVeneziaexactlyandcreated
millennium
and a half (Bosworth1975). The
thebroadexpanseofthepresentPiazzaVenezia
siting
oftheVittoriano
againsttheCapitolineand
at thesouthern
endoftheVia delCorso(Racheli
adjacenttotheImperial
andRomanFora(which
1980).
theLiberalstatehad been gradually
excavating
The Vittoriano,
wasstillobscuredby
however,
since1898)6wasa deliberate
attempt
toassociate
the PalazettoVenezia.As a consequence,the
... . ..........
:>H<
I.:....................
ae...:
. ..
A:. ...
.:...
..; :... .
... ...........
cantly.., . ;
..
.. .: . .....:...,......
"sacred
. the,
. ..
site"
Capitoline
:
ad
by....................
was
herens
z Z :; : w 0;; .. ......:.,
e ... .....
pw
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. . .. 8. ..
}...................................................
widely
tothe
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reg .
.; ..
. .
..
...
as a. .
::: . .r.a..

36
Atkinson
andCosgrove
~~~~~~~~~~~A_
incentralRome.The bolderlinesindicatethechangesin
environs
Figure4. The PiazzaVeneziaanditsimmediate
undertaken
urbanmorphology
to centralize
themonument
and createa large
byLiberaland Fascistgovernments
beforeit.Source:J.jayco.
spaceforpublicassembly
1909 cityplan decreedthat thisstructure

be
demolished
brickbybrickand rebuiltone hundred yardsto the west-therebyclearingthe
space beforethe Vittoriano(Kostof1973). Indeed,theonlystructures
thatsurvived
theclearance oftheadjacentareasweretheremnants
of
twoClassicalRomanbuildings.
The firstwas a
fragment
ofan ancienttomb;itwasleftstanding
at thenortheastern
comerofthemonument
as
an isolatedgesture
framed
bythevastbulkofthe
Vittoriano,
whose scale suggestsboth modem
Italy'sresurrection
ofclassicalgloryand thecapacity
ofthemodemstatetosupersede
Antiquity.
flushagainstthe
The secondsurviving
structure,
westflankofthemonument,
was knownas the
House of GiulioRomano.Allegedlya typically
it owedits
"humble"Romanpatricianbuilding,
and its "Ropreservation
solelyto its antiquity
man" provenance,ratherthan any recognized
historical
or architectural
virtue(Kostof1973).7
Thus, through
selectivepiecemealadaptations,
the squarebeforethemonument
was gradually
transformed
into one of the largestand most
imposingopen spacesin Rome.And presiding
overthisspacewas theever-growing
bulkofthe
Vittorio
EmanueleII monument.
As we haveindicated,
PiazzaVeneziawas the
terminus
ofthepapalcity's
mostimportant
northsouthroute.Throughout
the 1870sand 1880s,
thePiazzaalso becamethefocusofmuchofthe
still
growing
city'seast-west
traffic,
emphasizing
further
thecentrality
ofPiazzaVenezia-and the
Vittoriano-astheemerging
centerofRome.In
thefinaldecadesofthenineteenth
the
century,
Via Nazionale,a broad,prestigious
avenuethat
wasa showpiece
ofthenewurbanism
oftheRoma
andwhichhostedbanks,shops,
Capitaleprogram
andtheNationalExhibition
Hall,advancedfrom

UrbanRhetoricand EmbodiedIdentities
Rome'snew TerminiStationand the Bathsof
Diocletianon the easternhillsof the cityto
connectwithPiazzaVenezia(Kostof1973). By
the turnof the 1880s,thisbusyroutefromthe
stationto theheartoftheold citywas linkedto
the new Corso Vittorio Emanuele, carved
themedievalcityto theTiberand the
through
Vaticanbeyond(Fried1973). Thus the main
routesoftheexpandand east-west
north-south
ing metropolisintersectedpreciselyin Piazza
Venezia.Anditwasperhapsno accidentthatthe
in Romebytrainto
arriving
and tourists
pilgrims
see thePope and theVaticanwerenowobliged
centerof the
firstto negotiatethe commercial
ItalianKingdomand a monumentdesignedto
to a modern
exhibitthe grandeurappropriate
Europeancapitalcity(see Figure4).
transIn 1929 the PiazzaVeneziawas finally
politicalcenterof
formedintothe indisputable
the cityand nationwhenMussolinimovedhis
officeto PalazzoVeneziafromPalazzoChigi,fartherup the Via del Corso. Fromearly1925,
Mussolinihad beensteadily
accumulating
politiin
whatwecan identify
cal poweranddeveloping
as theprototypical,
moderntwentiethhindsight
centurytotalitarianregime(Lyttleton1973).
are increasingly
acknowledging
Commentators
urbanplanning,
ofarchitecture,
thesignificance
in
andpublicspacesto ItalianFascism(Atkinson
press;Fuller1992, 1996; Ghirardo1990, 1996;
von Henneberg1996; Isnenghi1994). Making
Rome a truecapitalcitywas a keyelementof
The city'spopulastrategy.
Fascism'snationalist
tion increasedto morethan a millionby the
mid-1930sas thesuburbsexpanded.In thehisMussolini's
emphasisuponromanita
toriccenter,
and heritageof ancientRome
and thememory
demandedthatancientremainsbe excavatedto
formthespectacular
backdroptothenewmonuto stagetherituals
mentalavenuesconstructed
ofFascism(Gentile1993).At
and performances
theheartofthecity,PiazzaVeneziabecamethe
andperforming
keynationalspaceforcelebrating
ofthe"political
thenationalceremonies
religion"
thatwasItalianFascism(Gentile1993).Fromthe
balconyofthepalace,acrossthepiazzafromthe
MussolinimadehismostfamouspubVittoriano,
the variousmilitary,
lic speeches,proclaiming
wonbyItaly
"victories"
social,andenvironmental
and Fascism,and urging
thefaithand obedience
of the Italianpeople.The crowdsgatheredin
PiazzaVeneziabeneathhisbalconywerecharacterizedat the timeas "oceanicassemblies" a
to Mussolini's
floodlitsea of facesresponding
37
bythe
presence,a presenceamplified
demagogic
loudspeakersthat surroundedthe Piazza (Isnenghi1994; Schnapp1996). Doug Thompson
(1991) has arguedthatthe Fascistadoptionof
and
ofamplification
thesemoderntechnologies
pavedthewayforlatertotalitarian
flood-lighting
Butourpointhereis thattheserhetoriregimes.
in Pigrounded
cal processeswerequiteliterally
azza Venezia a site carvedout of the urban
and political
fabricand rebuiltas the symbolic
stage-setthatgave
coreofRome.The towering
and arexercisesthedimensions
theserhetorical
chitectural
languageofepictheatrewas theVitspectacular
toriano the mostself-consciously
ofItaliannationalidentity.
symbol
Spatialities:
NationalandImperial
oftheCity
The Geopolitics
WhiletheAltaroftheNationclearlyplayeda
ofthecityof
centralrolewithinthespatialities
Rome,the scale of its impactsmaybe further
widened.GeroidO'Tuathail(1994) notesthat
in capiandmemorials,
architecture
particularly
a state'sgeopolitical
tal cities,oftenmaterialize
agendas.In thissection,we discussthewaysin
whichthe Vittoriano
and its immediatespaces
a
weremade centralto a widerstage,figuring
The
refoundedItalian imperialterritoriality.
agendaofFascismwascarvedinto
"geopolitical"
the landscapeof Rome and centeredupon the
and PiazzaVenezia.
Vittoriano
On May 9, 1936, Mussoliniproclaimedthe
foundation
ofthenewItalianempirewiththefall
intheEthiopian
ofAdisAbebaandItalianvictory
Thiswastheacknowledged
highpoint
campaign.
and the
of the dictator'sdomesticpopularity,
"Founderof the Empire"was acclaimedby his
in Piazza
subjectsin another"oceanicassembly"
beforetheVittoVenezia.The crowdsassembled
theonlyonesto hearII
rianowerenot,however,
Duce's rhetoric.The regimehad also adopted
to enradioas an elementofitstotalitarianism,
sure that Mussolini's voice was broadcast
throughoutthe entire nation (Monteleone
1976). In thenorthand centerof the country,
leisure-time
designedto fostersoorganizations
cialandpoliticalcontrol,
suchas theDopolavoro,
a focusoftheiractivimadetheradiobroadcasts
ties (DeGrazia 1981). In poorerregionsin the
South,as thenovelistCarlo Levi recorded,the
posregimeensuredthateverysinglesettlement
be positioned
sessedat leastone radiothatmight

38
and Cosgrove
Atkinson
in thecentralsquareso thatMussolini's
rhetoric
could be heardin all cornersof Italy,echoing
through
innumerable
smallerpiazze,simultaneofdirectpoouslyreviving
theancienttradition
liticalspeechinthepublicforum
andchallenging
thetraditional
localismofthechurchcampanile
(Levi 1947). As Mario Isnenghiwritesof such
in
occasions:"whenpeopleofItalyweregathered
the piazzas,PiazzaVeneziawas the centreof a
macrosystem
of spaces that were completely
linkedto one anotherimaginatively"
(Isnenghi
1994: 326). Throughsuch technologies,
Musfromtheconfines
solini'spresencewasamplified
theentirenation,
ofPiazzaVeneziatoincorporate
Italians'attentionwas cenwhile,conversely,
teredupon Piazza Venezia the centralsiteof
Fascism'spoliticalreligionpresidedoverbythe
AltaroftheNation.
In additionto usingpopularmedia such as
radioand film,theregimeencouragedprojects
PiazzaVeneziaand theVittoriano
thatpromoted
as thespatialheartoftheItaliannation.Fromthe
1920s,thePiazzabecamethefocusofa remarkslum
able program
ofarchaeological
excavation,
of anclearance,landscapingand presentation
cientruins,planning,
andmonumental
roadconstruction.
Thesewereintendedtomakethezone
theVittoriano
thehub not onlyof
surrounding
theItalianpeninsulabutalso ofItalianimperial
ofthesewiderFascistattempts
to
space.The first
cementRome-and, morespecifically,
thetriply
siteofthePiazzaVenezia,theVittoriano
symbolic
and theRomanForum as theheartofthenation,was begunin 1926 (Figures2, 4). The Via
a long-recogdelMare(RoadtotheSea) fulfilled
nizedrequirement
fora routethatwouldconnect
PiazzaVeneziawiththesouthofthecity(Kostof
1973). UnderFascism,theroadalso acquireda
thatare signifiseriesofideologicalimperatives
cantforour theme.The broad,modernVia del
Mare began at the base of the Vittoriano
and
swungarounditswestern
flank,
passingtheramp
before
themonutotheCampidoglio,
connecting
mentto the restored,
cleared,and landscaped
Teatrodi Marcello,a first-century
Romantheatre.Fromhere,it turnedsouthwards,
pastexcavatedRomanmonuments
and templesthathad
inpristine
beenisolatedandexhibited
landscaped
beforeheadingoutofthecitytowards
parklands,
Sea. Outsidethecity,thisroute
theTyrrhenian
becamethefirst
atOstia,
autostrada,
terminating
theancientportofRome,thenbeingdeveloped
forthestate'snascent
as theseaplaneterminus
A numberofthemesarearticuairlinenetwork.
latedin thisscheme.Quiteobviously,
thevalorizationofancientRome thecultofromanitais
a significant
element.The seventeenth-century
quarterssurrounding
themonuments
weredismissedas so much"picturesque
filth"by Mussolini, and his planners ensured that the
long-established
community
aroundForoOlitoriowas evictedand the urbanfabricclearedso
thatClassicalRomemightbe revealedand prein press;Kostof
sentedin all itsglory(Atkinson
con1973).Thusa directlineofcommunication
nectedtheVittoriano
andtheTeatrodiMarcello,
an uninterrupted
trans-historical
consuggesting
nectionbetweenModernItalyand theClassical
RomanEmpire.
At the widerscale,however,the directlink
betweenRome and the sea had morecomplex
ideologicalresonances.In the shortterm,the
regimewishedto encourageRomansto spend
theirleisuretimeoutsidethe city,enjoyingthe
"healthier"
airsofthecoast.To thisend,a railway
hadbeenbuiltfrom
theOstiensedistrict
ofRome
to the sea as earlyas 1924. The Via del Mare,
however,
was a farmoreemphaticstatement
of
returnto theTyrrhenian
Rome'simperial
shore.
theMediterranean
as Rome'sMare
Reclaiming
ifnotthecentral,
Nostrum
wasa central,
element
of Mussolini'simperialambitions(Atkinson
1996). By makinga directconnectionbetween
thesea and PiazzaVeneziain theheartofRome,
a reunited
Mussoliniintendedto emblematize
Italy'scapacityto match,in theformofmodern
motorroads and seaplaneroutes,the ancient
thecity,and
imperial
highways
thatradiatedfrom
thustosignify
withinthe
Italy'srevivedauthority
world.Itissignificant
thatthefirst
Mediterranean
majorurbanprojectof the Fascistregimewas
directedquite explicitly
towardsreconnecting
Rometothesea andmoreprecisely,
connecting
the heart of Rome at the Vittoriano and
in the
the Piazza Veneziatoitsimperial
destiny
Mediterranean.
A second,parallelschemetotiemodernRome
to its imperialheritagealso soughtto
directly
renderthemonumental
spaceofPiazzaVenezia
as theaxialpointofa rebornItalianempire.The
widemonumental
avenuenowknownas theVia
deiForiImperiali
wasfirst
in 1931as the
proposed
Via dei Colli or Via dei Monti theroadto the
hills(Marchetti
beforeit
Longhi1934). Shortly
wasopenedin October1932as partofthecelebrationofFascism'stenthanniversary
(Cederna
1981),thenameoftheroutewaschangedto the
Via dell'Impero
(AvenueoftheEmpire).Bisect-

UrbanRhetoric
ingthespectacular
excavatedruinsoftheimperialforato eitherside,thisroad,as the siteof
highly
choreographed
parades,came,morethan
anyotherlocation,to expressthe connections
betweenClassicaland Fascistempires.When
initially
conceived,however,the road was intendedprimarily
torepresent
anaxisleadingaway
fromPiazza Venezia-the center of Fascist
authority
andnationalpride-towards
theAlban
hillsandthesouthern
In combination
peninsula.
withtheViadelMare'sprojection
towards
thesea
andtheViadelCorsoleadingtothenorthofItaly,
theVia dei ColliwouldmakePiazzaVeneziathe
focalpointof threemajoraxes that together
encompassedthe entireterritory
of the nation.
AlfredoAmbrosi's1930 aeropainting
(Figure5)
dramatically
represented
theimaginative
spatialitiesoftheVittoriano
and PiazzaVeneziawithin
the Italian peninsulaby superimposing
these
monumental
avenuesontotheheadofMussolini
so thatthecorporealpresenceofII Duce comes
to embodythe spiritof imperialism,
rebornin
Fascismandcenteredin PiazzaVenezia.8
Of course,thecreationofthesemonumental
avenueswas not drivensolelybyidealizedspatialities
ofItaliancity,state,andempire,
norwas
it uncontested.In justifying
the schemes,the
practical
requirements
ofroadsfora modernmetropolis,
particularly
easingtraffic
circulation
in
thegrowing
capital,wereaugmented
bymodernistbeliefin thevirtues
ofbringing
lightandairto
thecramped,noisomespacesof themetropolis
(Agnew 1995; Fried1973; Kostof1973). Nor
shouldwe underestimate
Fascism's
thirst
fordramaticpublicstagesuponwhichitcouldperform
its ronanitd,
and its imperialdreams(Gentile
1993).The drasticsocialand archaeological
impactsof theprojectsdid not go unremarked
or
unchallenged
evenat thetime,althoughtheopportunities
forprotestwere severelylimited:
5,500 homes were bulldozed in just eleven
months
tomakewayfortheViadell'Impero
(Kostof1973).Our aimin thissection,however,
has
been to emphasizethe extentto whichLiberal
andFascistprojects
fortheVittoriano
andPiazza
Venezia reworkedthe spatialitiesof modern
Rome,and howtheyextendedthesespatialities
torender
themonumental
complexcentraltothe
widernationalrealm,andtothegeopolitical
proan Italianempire.
jectofconstructing
The spatial
politicsof the monumentwere thusa crucial
elementof the state'sgeopolitical
and imperial
rhetoric.
In thefinalsection,we turnfromhorizontalto verticalaxes, examining
the physical
..K-i
.. . ...
39
.o~Mg
_w_~~~~~~~w
_~~~~~~~A6
Figure 5. AlfredoAmbrosi,"Portrait
of Mussolini
withViewofRomebehind,"1930 (oilon canvas,124
x 124cm,privatecollection).
embodimentof gendered meanings within the
spaces of the Vittoriano.
Body,Monument,
andVertical
Axiality
In 1921 the Roman associationofGaribaldian
veterans,the Societa Mutuo Soccorso Giuseppe
Garibaldi, organized "the most successful nationalritualeverperformed
in thepre-fascistera"
(Fogu 1996: 328). At the suggestionof Guilio
Douhet, one ofthefirsttheoristsofaerialwarfare,
the bodychosen to become Italy'sUnknownSoldierwas removedfromitsgravein Aquileia, near
Venice, forreburialin Rome at the Altare della
Patria,thatpartoftheVittorianoupon whichthe
equestrian statue of VittorioEmanuele II surmountsthe sculptedfiguresof Italian cities,and
at thecenterofwhichDea Roma surveystheopen
spaces ofthe Piazza Venezia (Isnenghi1994; Fogu
1996). A discreetwreathcast in black iron with
the wordsmiliteignotois the onlyexternalindicationof thiscorporealpresence.
For the Vittoriano's symbolic significance,
however,and forits place in the landscapes of
Rome and Italy,the presence of the Unknown
Soldier is as vital as Sacconi's original iconographicprogramforthe monumentand the Fascist reworkingof its site. Not only does the

40
AtkinsonandCosgrove
presenceofa youthful
malebody,"sacrificed"
on
sacrificial
bodyin theVittoriano.
A decadelater,
Italy'sfarthest
terrestrial
borders,representa
celebrating
theanniversary
ofthe"FascistRevo"realpresence"withinthecapitalofItaliannalution,"
Mussolini
onceagainspoketothemasses
in Piazza Venezia,in sightof the Altarof the
tionalterritoriality-this
istrueofallsuchcadavers throughwhichmass sacrificewas officially Nation and the UnknownSoldier (Isnenghi
memorialized
by the Europeanstatesafterthe
1994).
It was Italy'slastLiberalgovernment
GreatWar(Heffernan
thatin1994;Winter1995)-but
themannerofitsinterment
at thenation'ssymitiallytransferred
thesoldier'sbodyforburialin
bolic center,the designand decorationof the
thenationalaltarin Rome.The individualwas
internal
mausoleum
spaceswithin
theVittoriano, selectedby a bereaved,sorrowing
motherfrom
andthepolitico-religious
ofa sanctiamong six unidentifiedcorpses broughtto
resonances
fiedbodyplacedin thecity'scatacombs,extend
Aquileiafromthebattlefields
ofMonteGrappa,
and reinforce
theimperial
oftheVitina ritualsimilar
symbolism
tothatundertaken
in
elsewhere
torianowithinRomanandItalianspace.History, Europe.Its translation
in 1921 to the nation's
memory,
empire,and thebodycoincideas the
capitalwas,however,
verymuchan Italianand
ofthetombmakespatial
Romanaffair.
The sanctification
designandiconography
ofurbanspace
connections
betweenpastmilitary
sacrifice
and
through
theceremonial
reinterment
ofthephysithe cultofyouthand futureglorypromoted
cal bodyofa founding
by
hero,at thesitewherethe
Fascism.9
city'snumen,or spirit,was believedto reside,
in theEuropean
Arguably,
Italy'sengagement
called upon a long precedentin Classicaland
War,beginning
May24,1915,wasthesinglemost
Christianculture.The VenetianRepublic,for
unifying
momentfortheItaliannationsincethe
of the
example,had celebratedthe translatio
incorporation
ofRomeas itscapitalin 1870.In
evangelist
Mark'suncorrupted
remainsfromAlthe rhetoricof the time,youthful
male blood
exandriato thelagooncityas thefounding
mospilledintothelandsymbolically
the
inseminated
ment of its Republic, the transferitself
farthest
frontiers
ofthenationalterritory
(Anderaccompanied
bysignsandwonders(Danielsand
son 1991); it was commemorated
in scoresof
Cosgrove1993).AndinRome,theobeliskraised
remembrance
parksin everyprovinceof Italy
byPopeSixtusV inSt.Peter'sSquarein 1586was
withtreesplantedin the name of each fallen
saidtobe thesamemonument
thathadwitnessed
hero-symbols of resurrection(Canal 1982;
themartyrdom
ofSt.Petercenturies
earlier(HibMosse 1990: 89).10The long sanguinary
stalebert1985).Thus,therailjourney
the
transferring
mate in the Dolomitemountainborderswith
chosenbodyfrom
Italy'smountain
borderlands
to
in thekilling
Austria,
particularly
fieldsofMonte
the heartof the nation'scapitalwas a highly
Grappafromwherethe Piave Riverflowedred
affair.
The trainwithitsburden
choreographed
withblood,producedonlya "mutilated
peace,"
haltedat everystationalongitsrouteso thatthe
whereby
Italiansbelievedthemselves
cheatedof
peopleofthecitiescoulduniteinhomageto the
theirrightful
territorial
gains,earnedbyItalian
nation'ssacrificed
warrior
(Fogu1996).In Rome,
sacrifice
butstolenbyAnglo-French
a precisely
diplomatic
plannedparadeandsomberceremony
at thepostwar
manoeuvering
peaceconferences. attendedtheinterment
ofthebodyin thecataThis senseofbetrayal
and dissatisfaction
played
combsbelowtheVittoriano
(Fogu1996).
a significant
partin the demiseof the Liberal
thebodyinRomewasnotan uncomInterring
andtheriseofFascism.
regime
plicatedaffair.
There werepowerful
Indeed,inOctober
precedent
1922,whenMussolini's
blackshirt
and plentiful
columns,in a
historical
in a citythat
associations
rhetorical
showofstrength,
marchedon Rometo
hadbeentheseatofRomanemperors
andCathoseizethestateforFascismand,as theyclaimed,
licpopes.In Antiquity,
hadintroduced
Augustus
restoreItalianpridein the name of Italy'swar
a theocratic
dimensionto Romanimperium
not
dead, theyassembledin Piazza Venezia.And,
verbalrhetoric,
a
onlythrough
butalso through
whenMussoliniarrivedin thecapitaltwodays
forthe architectural
materialprogram
fabricof
later,inspatsandtails,toacceptthepremiership, Rome(Pagden1995).He securedthecity'sclaim
hekneltbeforethetomboftheUnknownSoldier
touniversal
empire
ofhis
bythephysical
presence
fora fullminutebeforeaddressing
hisfollowers own imperialashesin death.The monumental
fromthestepsoftheVittoriano
(Munro1933).
complexhe causedto be constructed
on theleft
In hisfirst
publicactas premier,
thefuture
dictabankoftheTiberwasitselfan attempt
to center
tor associatedhis Fascistmovementwiththe
globalspaceon Rome.The supposeddivinity
of

UrbanRhetoricandEmbodiedIdentities
the Emperorwas celebratedat the Ara Pacis,
thepeaceAugustushadbrought
to the
signaling
Mediterranean
worldunderhis dominion.The
core of the complex was the Mausoleo di
remains
were
Augusto,wherethegod-emperor's
interred.
Mussolini-whoplannedto be buried
alongsideAugustus-wouldcompletehis own
reconstruction
ofthispagancomplexin 1938as
of theBimillenario
(the
partof the celebrations
birth)(Kostof
2000thanniversary
ofAugustus's
de1980). This year-long
culturalcelebration,
similarisignedto celebratethe trans-historical
tiesbetweentheimperialism
ofAugustus
andthat
ofFascism,
waspartofthecultofrenewedempire
andromanita
(Visser1992).
An alternative
of imperialRoembodiment
underthe
manuniversality
hadbeenconstructed
of the PanEmperorHadrianin his rebuilding
in
builtunderAugustus
theon-a templeinitially
sponhonorofthegodswhosemutualharmony
sored Rome's quest for world domination.
structure
from
Hadrian'stemple,
theoneimperial
intactintothe
ClassicalRometosurvive
virtually
modernage, was designedaccordingto strict
thebilateralsymVitruvian
principles,
whereby
metriesof thehumanbodyare fixedin thegeometriesof monumental
stone.The building's
verticalspatiality
emphasizesan axis extending
fromthe shaftof lightthatpoursthroughthe
thecircular
openingatthetopofitsdometostrike
Inthewordsofonecommenfloorofthebuilding.
thePantheoncelebrated
"theimperial
idea
tator,
and all thegodsoftheempirewhostoodforit,"
ratherthan Dea Roma (F. Brown,
dei imperii
bythe
quotedin Sennett1994:88). Rededicated
popesas a Christian
basilica,thePantheoneventuallybecamethe restingplace forthebodyof
VittorioEmanueleII, as the Liberalregimeenshrined
thefather
oftherefounded
nationwithin
a relicof ancientRome,leavingthe Vittoriano
empty.
The burialoftheUnknown
SoldierattheAltar
of the Nation allowedLiberalItalyto directly
connectthosewhohad diedin combatwiththe
foundingmonarch'sstatueabove, the ancient
and in the
imperial
spacesbelowthemonument
surrounding
fora,and theheartofRomein the
Capitolinehill.The UnknownSoldierat theVittorianoembodiedthe principlesof the Terza
Roma1lin the physicalpresenceof the dead
warrior
theheartofcityand nation.
sanctifying
wasto raisea
Butthenatureofthisembodiment
connectedto thephysical
presproblemdirectly
entationof the corpse,a problembroughtinto
41
sharpfocusbyPrimoAcciaresi'sdemandin 1925
fora "mostmarvellous
expiatory
templeforgathandcelebraeringandprayer,
inhonour,
memory
tion of all the heroes representedby the
inthecrypt
UnknownSoldier,"
tobe constructed
at the verycore of the Vittoriano(quoted in
Leone 1986:43). So longas thesiteofthetomb
worked
wasmarked
onlybya wreathandlettering
ofthe
intotheelaboratesculptural
iconography
monument's
externaldecoration,
its suggestive
assopowerremained
muted,public,anddirectly
of secularnationalism.
ciatedwiththe rhetoric
Acciarese'sdemandwasfora chapelandplaceof
prayerand privategriefforvisitingmourners.
Whileformanyofthesethesoldier's
bodywould
yetit
represent
lostsons,husbands,
andbrothers,
wouldinevitably
introducea Catholicpresence
in
constructed
intotheveryheartofa monument
largemeasureto supersedethe claimsof the
ChurchoverRomanandItalianspace.The secularaltarofthegoddessRomecouldthusbecome
thebodyof thenacompromised
byconflating
tion'swarrior
withthatofChrist,and thus,posofhisVicaron earth.Until1935,thosewho
sibly,
schemewontheday,andthe
opposedAcciaresi's
body of the UnknownSoldierremainedin a
minor,unmarkedspace withinthe monument.
ButtheLateranAccordsof1929,whichtempoof Paconflict
rarilyresolvedthelong-standing
pacyand State,and theFascistcultofthemale
at thetwentieth
annibodyanddeathcombined,
versary
ofItaly'sentryintotheWar,to promote
of a powerful
construction
sacredspace in the
Here physicalembodicryptof the Vittoriano.
mentis the keyrhetoric,
further
its
reinforcing
otherconcretized
meanings.
thesignificance
ofthebody
To contextualize
in Fascism, consider the 1928 Enciclopedia
Italiana,which,underitsentryforFascism,had
declared:
whoisbothnation
and
Fascist
manisanindividual
a morallawwhotiesindividuals
and
fatherland,
andonemission,
who
intoonetradition
generations
theinstincts
ofa lifeclosedwithin
a small
overcomes
inorder
toembrace
thedemands
circleofpleasure
ofa superior
lifeinwhichtheindividual,
through
thesacrifice
and
ofselfish
interest,
self-abnegation,
thatentirely
evendeath,realizes
experispiritual
hisvalueas a manlies.12
enceinwhich
In theyearsimmediately
Fascistrule,
preceding
theModernist
cultofthemalebodyhad already
been givendramaticartisticexpressionat the
inA. Rizzi'spowerful
moVittoriano
homoerotic
saicsofApolloand Marsthatdecoratedthepa-

42
Atkinson
andCosgrove
vilionvault (Figure6). The cult of manliness,

adoptedbyItalianFascismfrom
prewar
Futurism,
emphasizedthat "the veryconceptof 'energy
comealive'wasapplicableonlytoyouth"(Mosse
1990:63). Clearly,the UnknownSoldier,an
anonymoussacrificial
body,offeredenormous
scopeforreworking
Futurist
imagesoftheyouthfulmale into a representation
of the ideals of
Fascistman.In a ceremony
choreographed
bythe
State,thedeadwarrior's
once
bodywasreinterred
againon May24, 1935,directly
belowtheAltar
oftheNation,at thedeepestpointofthecrypt,
itsrealpresencemarkedbya stonealtarcarved
fromMonteGrappalimestone.
The approachto the tombdescendssteeply
througha series of sepulchralpassages and
vaultedspaces (Figure7). In plan form,these
construct
a Greekcross,withtheupperwallsin
marbleand thelowerinbrick,a consciousadoptionoftheClassicalstyleoflateimperial
fortificationand military
construction.
The descent
beginsfromhallways
designedto commemorate
Italy'sarmedforces,displaying
flagsof all the
army'sregiments
and the inscribedrecordsof
decoratedand dead soldierstransferred
to the
Vittoriano
fromthe Castel Sant' Angelo.The
workofthearchitect
ArmandoBrasini,thedesignwas partoftheFascistregime's
elaboration
of the Vittoriano's
references
originalsymbolic
awayfrom
a narrow
historical
celebration
ofItalian Unification
in theMuseo del
(memorialized
Risorgimento
anditsarchive,
transferred
therein
1930-1933)toa morecontemporary
andmilitant
celebration
ofItaliannationalism
andmilitarism.
The precipitous
descentleadsto an ambulatory
wherethesarcophagus
oftheUnknownSoldier
can be vieweddirectly,
deeplyentombedwithin
themonument,
in semidarkness,
beneatha mosaic of the Crucifixion.
It lies undera vaulted
arch,simplyinscribedwiththe wordsSacello
Milite
Ignoto
andguardedbytwowingedVictories,
modernreworkings
oftheforms
founduponRomanceremonial
arches,buthereholdingfasces,
theirarmsraisedin a Romansalute.In effect,
we
peerdownintoa mundus,
similarto thatofthe
Pantheon.
Andagain,as at thePantheon,
an axis
strikes
vertically
from
thesedepthsto theeternal
flameburning,
on thestepsoftheVittoriano
an
echooftheVestalflameofClassicaltimes,
which
waskeptalivein a templeon thePalatineHillto
thedeitiesofdeathand to ensurethe
propitiate
continued
lifeofRome.
The themeofyouthful
bodilysacrifice
is reinforcedbytheiconography
ofthecircularchapel
nextto thetombandambulatory.
Itssimplealtar
is alsomadeofMonteGrappamarble,
so thatthe
sacrifice
oftheMasstakesplaceon thesamestone
as thatof the nation'sfallenyouth.Its domed
----- ----- ----
... ...
=
....
...
...
... .
-----
--.
............
... . ..
...
...
-M M
----- ----------
. ......... ....... ... ...
... .. ..
.........
... ..
....
..... ...........
.. .........
...
..
. .....
..
...
....
.... ...
N111
ip:
Hill
iF
..........
--'.771.777.77 7. Z
. ... .....
..................
..............
........
.
Figure 6. Antonio Rizzi,TUnione," 1918 (mosaic showingthe meetingof Mars (war) and Apollo (peace), in the
lunetteof the leftpavilionvault of the monumentto Vittorio-Emanuele11).

UrbanRhetoric
43
:;:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*
':
'
'
,,
,',
f |
;0E
;;
O A.
: ,, x,
,#
If
By
./
,.to,
~~~~~~~
i'
fi
MA
. E, , s,, , .. . ..............
; . . .. .
giv
FitN
..Q
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...
....''
S..s
. ..I
i''
.
...
,.>:-~~~~~~~~~~~~...
_ ...........................
-_lj
l_
....
.......... ..
Figure7. ArmandoBrasini,
Projectforthecrypt
oftheUnknown
Soldier,1934(source:Serio,M.,andSugeri1986:
vol.2, p. 47).
vaultis decoratedbyGiulioBargellini's
mosaic
figures
of fourearlyChristianmartyrs,
threeof
themcanonizedRoman soldiers-Martin,Sebastian,andGeorge-thefourth
themilitant
St.
Barbara.The sacrificial
connectionamongthe
UnknownSoldier,
theRomanlegionary,
andthe
Christian
isdirect:earlyChristian
martyr
martyrs
toowereremembered
as those"whosenamesare
knowntoGod alone."In thewordsofLlllustrazioneItaliana,
recording
theopeningofthecrypt:
"Bythewilloftheregime,
thealtarofGod now
comesto be raisedin theVittoriano,
so thatall
shouldunderstand
thatRomanvalorand Chris-
tianfaithareindissolubly
conjoinedina renewed
Italy"(quotedin Leone 1986:51-52).
The cultofthedead withinItalianand other
states'Fascismhas oftenbeen remarked
upon
(Mosse 1990). In annual commemoration
parades,surviving
comrades
from
theWarpaidtheir
respectsat the Vittoriano,
as at cenotaphsand
military
monuments
everywhere
in Europe,but
theMutilati
(literally,
themutilated
veterans)also
proudly
displayed
theirbrokenbodiesas physical
witnessto Italianheroismin marchesdownthe
Viadell'Impero
leadingfrom
theVittoriano
tothe
ClassicalRome'sprimary
Colosseum,
siteofpub-

44
andCosgrove
Atkinson
masculinism.
Exlic bodycultureand military
posedtopublicgazemoreherethaninanyother
Europeancapital,thecorporealpresenceofthe
UnknownSoldierwithinthenation'smostselfspaceis linkedphysically
consciousmonumental
locationof the battlefield
to the geographical
from
hisfirst
thejourney
wherehe died,through
burialsite at Aquileia and the use of Monte
Grappastone.In thisway,theItalianstatereincultureandtheVittoriano's
forced
botha military
within
centrality
(andRome's)claimstosymbolic
andurban
thenationalterritory:
an architectural
totheAlpineenvironment
ofmonti,
counterpoint
in whichthesoldierhad died,
boschie torrentiH3
as thefronandwhichwasthenbeingpromoted
bodiesin
tiertesting
groundforItaly'syouthful
andSoriani
theyearsbetweenthewars(Vallerani
of the Vittoriano
1995). The urbanspatialities
transformed
bythepresenceof
werealso further
the UnknownSoldier'sbody.The wreathand
inscription
at thefeetofDea Romasuggestthat
theSoldieras fallenherobelongsto thecityas
offemale
pietti
wellas tothenation.The symbolic
goddessand fallenson adoptsa moremilitant
iconography
forpublicdisplaythantheintimate
wherethebodyis a
spaceswithinthemonument
"realpresence."
forthecrypt,
chapel,
Bargellini's
iconography
andchamber
doesnotrefer
onlytopastsacrifice.
reference
to the
It makesa subtlebutsignificant
oftheFasmodemincarnation
mostdramatically
cistmale hero.The fourmartyrs
of his mosaic
standguardaroundthe domedcupola of the
chapelin whosecenteris depictedOur Ladyof
medieLoreto,thefocusofItaly'smostimportant
househad supval Madonnacult.The Virgin's
throughthe air by
posedlybeen transported
angelsfromBethlehem,acrossthe Mediterranean Sea to Italy'sAdriaticshore.Iconographinot merelythe
cally,the Madonnarepresents
and the
butthe idea offlight
suffering
mother,
conquestof the air.In 1935 the Madonna of
Loretowasofficially
declaredthepatronofaviawhowere
tors,thoseheroesoftheFascistregime
reachundertheleaderextending
Italy'simperial
shipofthedashing
youngairace,ItaloBalbo,who
believedthatthrough
aviation,Italyhad recaptured the principlesof ancient knighthood
(Morse1990:117;Segre1987).
ofpoweredflight
The newspatialexperiences
inItalymoreeffectively
wereexploited
artistically
thanin anyotherEuropeanculture.Ambrosini's
headwithRome'snewroads
imageofMussolini's
outfromthePiazzaVenezia(Figure5)
radiating
is but one of a largecollectionof aereopitture

(aeropaintings)
producedin Italybetween1918
and 1945.The genrewas initiatedbyGerrardo
Dottori in a 1918 image, "Wings over the
Trenches,"thatcelebratesthe freedomof the
pilot,highovertheAlps wherehis earthbound
comradesaremiredingrave-like
trenches
(Manofaeropainting
turaet al. 1990). The principles
F.T Marinetti's1929
wereoutlinedin futurist
andthestylewasadoptedin thedecoManifesto,
at Ostia.The style
rationofthenewairterminal
of
at an Exhibition
wasgivenofficial
recognition
Aeropainting
held in 1931 to celebrateBalbo's
andback,after
successful
flight
to Rio de Janeiro
intriumph
from
Ostia
whichtheairmenmarched
to theheartofRome.
Aeropainting
notonlysoughtto capturethe
ofpoweredflight,
butthenew
speedand energy
itoffered
andperspectives
overterresgeometries
trialspace. Synopticviewsof the cityand its
Marinetti's
monumental
spacesarticulated
proartofFasmotionofaeropainting
as theofficial
overVienna"that
cism:from
Ambrosini's
"Flight
celebratedGabrieled'Annunzio'swartimegestureofdropping
leaflets
overtheAustrian
capital,
to Baldessari's
"Tricolor
SpiraloverRome"(Figure8), wheretheflight
pathofa loopingplaneis
overthe
describedas thenationalflagspiraling
Vittoriano.
By themid-1930s,whenBargellini's
moreconservative
mosaicl4
ofOurLadyofLoreto
was produced,aeropaintinghad turnedunof aerial
equivocallyto revelin the spatialities
..S.S.E
]'.....
UZ
BaldessanTricolor
Marcello
Figure8. Roberto
SpiraloverRome,"
1923(oiloncanvas).

warfare.
Suchworksnotonlycelebrated
themachineand itsmotion,butsignificantly,
thebody
oftheyoungfighter
pilothimself,
especially
when
escapingfroma failedaircraft.
The bodilysensationsoffreefalland parachuting,
and thevision
ofearthturning
below,becamea favorite
subject
ofsculptures
and paintings,
suchas SanteMonachese's"Likea Dead LeafoverRome"(1940).
in ItalConsciousconnections
wereestablished
ian art and culturebetweenthe sacrificeand
burialofthefallensoldiers
oftheGreatWarand
theirresurrection
as youthful
oftheair,
knights
transcending
the boundariesof space and time
(Mosse 1990: 119-21,184-85). In thiscontext,
in theimageof
itis nottoofanciful
to recognize
Our LadyofLoreto,withinthedomeabovethe
Unknown
Soldier'saltar(traditionally,
thearchitectural
thesky),an invitation
spacesymbolizing
to future
heroesto yieldtheirownyouthto the
heavensas theUnknownSoldierhad sacrificed
his to the earth.The verticalaxis withinthe
Vittoriano
thusextendsfromthedepthsof the
deathto
tombtotheheights
ofatmosphere,
from
lifeandfrom
pastto future.
itslate-nineteenthanxieties
wereintenseduring
attemptsto conand earlytwentieth-century
inthefaceofapathy
struct
an Italiannation-state
fromthe
from
most"Italians"andactivehostility
PapacyinRomeUemolo1960).The ambivalence
wherethecement
is presenttodayin a country
remains
betweennation,state,and territoriality
weak.In thispaper,we havesoughtto excavate
inthe "official"
rhetoric
thatwas intentionally
scribedontothemonument
bythegovernments
ofLiberaland FascistItaly.Othermeaningsunswirlaroundthesite.Unquestionably,
doubtedly
it held and may stillhold intenselypersonal
ofdead soldiers.Even
memories
forthefamilies
at theapogeeofItalianFascism,
whenthecultof
thenationanditssupposedimperial
destiny
were
at theirheight,theVittorio
EmanueleII monuonlythe
mentretaineda measureofambiguity:
decisive interventionof Mussolini himself
thwarted
a plantopaintityellowso thatthestark
so dazwhiteBrescianmarbleofitsconstruction,
zlinginthesummer
sun,mightappearlessobtrusive against the ochre tones of the Roman
cityscape.In theredcrayonwithwhichhe disI1Duce scrawledNiente
patchedhispaperwork,
.iA Ni.z
r C
Ad:
Conclusion
Fromthe perspective
of the late twentieth
in
EmanueleII monument
century,
theVittorio
Romemayseeminitially
tooffer
littlemorebyway
ofurbanauraandmeaningthana ratherembarrassingreminderof late-nineteenth-century
bourgeoisbombast. By over-elaboratingits
iconographic
and symbolic
content,thosewho
anddesignedthismemorial
to the
commissioned
monarchofmodernItalysucceededin
founding
the veryoppositeto theirrhetorical
producing
intention.
Ratherthanchallenging
thedomeof
St. Peter'son theurbanskyline
as a lastingand
ofItaly'sculturaland politidignified
expression
cal revival,
ofthenation'sclaimtoa worthy
place
andofRome'sclaim
amongtheEuropeanpowers,
torecognition
as a modernEuropeanmetropolis,
in the postwarera, the Vittoriano
became an
amusement
objectofirreverent
amongRomans
and scornful
ridiculeamongarchitects
and urbanists.
In his classictextThe Italians,LuigiBarzini
addressedthe Vittoriano'sambiguitiesmore
than mostwriters.
He concluded
thoughtfully
thatthiscontrived
andoverbearing
bulk
bombast
reflectedwider anxieties and ambivalences
within
thenewItalianstate(Barzini1964).These
45
...
~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~
...
...........
C
Percd*A va af"
.-
6eI'altaredella-Patnhiu111
Figure9 "Whywe'regoingtotheinaugurationThe
satincalcartoonaskswhyvanousRomansareattendoftheVittoriano.
ingtheinauguration
Typicalanswers
include:"becauseit'sa dayoffschool,""to showoffa
new dress,""to get a nominationto the Senate."
Source IlBastone( 911)

46
AtkinsonandCosgrove
(No such thing!)over the proposal(Cederna

1979).
Yetdespitethecontroversies
and ambiguities
thatattendedthe initialarchitectural
competitions,at theVittoriano's
openingin 1911,at least
in the reportof the culturalcommentator
Ugo
Ojetti, the Vittorianodid seem to embody
italianita:
hasseenandexperienced
thosemoments,
Whoever
was
andbeauty
whenartbecameonewithhistory
withstrength,
themas long
fused
willneverforget
live:witha sighora shout,
asthey
everyone
present
soulpropelled
intothesoulof
felttheir
byemotion
wonderful
the livingnation present,
tangible,
(Dickie1994:2).1
theLondonTimescommented
that"in
Likewise,
and vulgarity
of detail [the
spite of triviality
monument]
does expressthespiritand prideof
modern
Rome"(Bosworth
1975:86). Thesecomtheattempt
mentaries
soughttounderpin
torender the monument as theembodimentof
Theirownrhetoric,
Italianness.
however,
seems
moreconsistent
toneof
to acknowledge
another,
andcontempt,
inthe
publicindifference
captured
cartoonfigures
attending
itsinauguration
(Figure
9). Our close examinationof the Vittoriano's
andspecifically
evolution,
a willingness
to "read"
it withina geographical
contextofimperial,
national,urban,andcorporeal
rhetoric,
yielda complex example of how official rhetoric is
concretized
andperformed
inurbanspace.Much
ofthesignificance
derivesquite
oftheVittoriano
fromthatof Romeitselfas a deeply
specifically
withinItalianand Europeancullayeredartifact
ture.Butembodiment
is also a powerfully
recurringtheme.The allegorical
femalebodiesofthe
Italianprovinces,
the Dea Roma,theVirginof
withthesacriLoreto,and St. Barbaraalternate
ficialmilitary
masculinism
oftheUnknownSolEmanueleII, andevenChrist.As a
dier,Vittorio
shedslight
memorial
landscape,themonument
on thecomplexinterweaving
ofempire,
memory,
and thegenderedbodily
modernity,
geopolitics,
withinthecontempresences
shapingspatialities
porary
city.At a timewhenthesitesand significances of the body are being increasingly
recognizedwithingeographicalwriting(Nash
in
1996),and amidtherecentrevivalofinterest
thegeographies
ofmonuments
andiconographic
landscapes,theVittoriano
bringsthesetogether
ina singlememory
theater.
Equally,ina periodin
whichtheurban-imperial
cultures
oflatemodern
Europeanstatesand theculturesofFascismare
being reassessed (Driver and Gilbert 1996;

Adamson1995;Gentile1993;Galbo 1995),the
case of theVittoriano
in Romecastslightupon
the continuing
renegotiation
of meaningsand
identities,
ofhistories
andmemories,
thatmarked
theevolutionofthemodernEuropeancapital.
Acknowledgments
The research
forthispaperwaspartofa larger
project,
"Imperial
Cities:Landscape,
SpaceandPerinLondonandRome,1850-1950,"
funded
formance
to Tony
Trust.We aregrateful
bytheLeverhulme
Brothers,
JohnDickie,FelixDriver,
DavidGilbert,
MikeHeffernan,
Peter
Howells,
Catherine
Nash,Anna
Notaro,
andanonymous
referees
fortheir
comments.
inseminars
Thanksalsotoparticipants
at theBritish
SchoolatRome,theSchoolofGeography
attheUniandattheInstitute
ofOxford,
ofBritish
versity
Geographers
AnnualConference
in Exeter,
1997.Errors,
arethe
andunlessindicated
translations
otherwise,
authors'
own.
Notes
1. The complexity
ofsymbolism
in Rome'surban
landscape
is brilliantly
demonstrated
andmobilizedbytheEnglish
film
director
Peter
Greenaway
inhis1987movie,
"TheBelly
ofanArchitect,"
in
which,
significantly,
theVittoriano
is themain
architectural
andpregcharacter,
andthedecaying
nantbodiesrespectively
oftheAmerican
architectandhiswifedominate
thehuman
narrative.
2. Suchwasthepaceandrangeofimperial
expaninthelatter
halfofthenineteenth
sionism
century
thatbythetimeoftheChicagoWorld's
Fair,
asbeing
globalspacewasincreasingly
recognized
a finite
andtheorists
suchas Frederick
resource,
whospokeat Chicago,
increasJackson
Turner,
a "closed-space"
world
order
ingly
conceptualized
(Kearns
1983).
3. The political
interference
wasallegedto result
from
Prime
Minister
Depretis's
insistence
thatthe
to
commission
be awardedto theFrenchman
anti-French
appeaseParisovertherecent
rioting
in Italythatfollowed
Frenchoccupation
of
Tunis-a citywitha sizeableItalianpopulation
andonewhichItaliannationalists
covetedas a
toanenvisaged
Italianempire
inAfrica
gateway
(Bessis1980).
had
4. Itisclaimed
thatDepretis,
a Brescian
deputy,
a handin thedecision
to buildthemonument
with
Brescian
which
ordiscolmarble,
never
fades
Roman
thanwith
traditional
travertine
ors,rather
marble.

5. The Liberalstateerecteda statueto thememory
oftheRepublic'sleader,Cola di Rienzo,in 1887,
upontheNorthern
slopeoftheCapitoline,
adjacentto thesiteoftheVittoriano.
6. Although
variousPopesandlatertheNapoleonic
administration
ofRome (1798-1814) had made
severalattemptsto excavatethe ancientForo
Romanoand thesurrounding
ImperialFora,the
program
oftheLiberalStatewas themostambitiousattempt
to uncoverthelandscapesofantiquity.Theyplanneda hugePassegiata
Archaeologica
(archeological
park),whichwouldstretchfrom
theCapitoline,through
theFora,to theBathsof
Caracalla.Ironically,
itwastheFascistsuccessors
oftheLiberals
whodidmosttorealizetheseplans
and road
withtheirlandscapes,interventions,
in thisquarterofthecityin theinterwar
building
years.
7. FortheItalianstate,anylinkstotheclassicalpast,
howevertenuous,werealwayswelcome,butfor
thatcouldnotoffer
buildings
anyusefulconnectionsto ancientRome (such as the Medieval
cloisters
ofthechurchofAra Coeli,thetowerof
Paul III, and otherRenaissancestructures
ofthe
thefatewasdemolition.
vicinity),
8. In thedetailofthispainting,
itis clearthatPiazza
Veneziais fullofpeople-an "oceanicassembly"
wavingItalianflagsand glorying
in theimperial
ofII Duce. Significantly,
when
visionandprowess
the ItalianColonial Institute(a coloniallobby
thatcampaigned
forItalianexpansionism
in Afin 1906,theLiberalgovernment
rica)wasformed
itsfirst
grantedthewell-connected
organization
premises
insidetheVittoriano
(Bosworth
1975).
9. Fascismvalorizedyouthand made the healthy,
reproductive
bodythefocusofpronatal
legislation
(De Grazia1992;Horn1994;Ledeen1969).
10. The rejuvenating
cycleof burialand resurrection-specifically
linkingthemalebodyand the
naturalworld-is ofcoursea fundamental
trope
in EuropeanChristianart and cultures,in the
andin thelinkstonatural
bodyofChristhimself,
asJamesFraser's
TheGoldenBoughdemreligion,
onstratedso fullyand influentially
in the years
underdiscussion.
11. TerzaRoma(ThirdRome)refers
to therevivalof
in the Modernera,rivaling
the city'sgreatness
Classicaland Renaissanceworks.
12. The Enciclopedia
Italianawas one of the most
cultural
oftheregime
and
significant
productions
was intendedto constitute
an Italianaccountof
humanknowledge
and learningthatemphasized
Italiancontributions
tocivilization
andevidenced
Fascism's
culturalcredentials
dellaEnci(Istituto
clopediaItaliana1992).
13. Literally
the
"Mountains,woods and torrents,"
alpinelandscapewhich,in theFascistera,came
to replacethe traditional
belpaesaggio
of cultivatedhillsidesas theiconiclandscapeofthenawilderness
and of
tion,a regionbothoffrontier
47
physical
endurance
appropriate
forcultivating
the
Fascistbody.
14. DespiteMarinetti's
hyperbolic
promotion
ofFuturism
as theregime's
official
art,publiccommissions forthe mostpartfavoreda much more
conservative
style.This was especiallytruefor
such a solemnprojectas the UnknownSoldier
withintheVittoriano(see PatriziaRosazza-Ferraris,"The Aeropainters
andtheState:Commissionsand Acquisitions,"
in Manturaet al. 1990:
33-36).
15. In Italian:Chi ha vedutoed ha vissuto
questimoin cui lartee la storia,la bellezzae la forza
menti,
sonostateunacosasola,incuilemozione
halanciato
con un sospiro
o con un gridolanimadi ciascuno
nell'anima
dellapatria,viva,presente,
e
tangibile
nonsenedimentichera&finche
vive.Our
meravigliosa,
thankstoJohnDickieforhisadviceon thistranslation.
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Urban Rhetoric and Embodied Identities: City, Nation, and Empire at the Vittorio Emanuele II

Monument in Rome, 1870-1945

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Italy.In addition,its sober,symbolic

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1996). JamesDuncan (1992), forexample,has

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thus piecemeal;the citygovernment

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1909 cityplan decreedthat thisstructure

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Schnapp,J.T 1996. StagingFascism,18BL and the

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