Museum of the Risorgimento: The Lioness of Italy

Set on the Cidneo Hill, within the walls of the Brescia Castle, the Museum of the Risorgimento: The Lioness of Italy has been reopened after twenty years of closure and is today defined by an innovative, interactive and immersive layout. The new exhibition path tells the story of the Risorgimento as a phenomenon of European stature and pressing relevance.

Paintings, sculptures, mementoes and “relics” are read and presented as the material expression of the long and complex history that culminated in Italian Unity. A rich digital collection accompanies and integrates a narrative that reaches all the way to our own day, drawing visitors into the events that placed Brescia at the heart of the long Risorgimento and made it world-famous as the Lioness of Italy.

The Museum preserves and showcases a substantial portion of the heritage dedicated to Brescia’s Risorgimento history, the result of donations from citizens dating back to the late 19th century. Among the most significant pieces stands the large painting by Jean Adolphe Beaucé, General Niel on the Battlefield of Medole (1861).

Why visit the Museum of the Risorgimento: The Lioness of Italy

• Discover why Brescia is the Lioness of Italy.
• Breathe in the atmosphere of an elegant nineteenth-century salon, long a privileged place of cultural and political exchange.
• Get to know the most famous expedition of the 19th century, led by Giuseppe Garibaldi.
• Discover that fans, plates, waistcoats and scarves served as political messages.
• Enter history through digital technologies.

Tips for your visit

• Museums Ticket booking online recommended: one entry to each museum in Brescia’s civic museum system (Santa Giulia, Tosio Martinengo Art Gallery, Museum of the Risorgimento, Luigi Marzoli Arms Museum).
• Accessibility: fully accessible for those with mobility disabilities.
• Virtual Tour: explore the museum in 360° directly from home.
• EasyGuide: free multimedia guide (also in LIS — Italian Sign Language).

The Museum of the Risorgimento and the area around Brescia

The Museum is located in the heart of the city, in the western hinterland of Lake Garda. Easily reachable by car and well connected by the public transport network.

Other attractions in the area: Brixia. Roman Archaeological Park of Brescia, Santa Giulia Museum, Tosio Martinengo Art Gallery, Luigi Marzoli Arms Museum.

Photos: ©Photographic Archive of the Civic Museums of Brescia