3-011-657 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Monument on the battle-field of Magenta, erected by the people of Lombardy in honour of the French Army, 1864. Engraving from a drawing by M. Mariani. 'The people of Lombardy [in northern Italy] have lately subscribed for the erection of a monument to express their gratitude for their liberation...the design was furnished by Signor Giovanni Brocca...who has endeavoured to combine three purposes in one by the construction of a tomb, a chapel, and a monument. The style is Egyptian as to form and Lombardian as to ornament, and the basement is fitted up as a chapel...The monument consists of an imposing obelisk...its total height is 65ft. The sides of the obelisk are ornamented...with marble bas-reliefs, representing the Emperor Napoleon [and] Victor Emmanuel...there are four openings with a decoration in the form of a star. These openings, illuminated by a powerful lamp kept burning in the interior, give the monument by night the appearance of a light-house; so that by night, as well as by day, this memorial of Magenta will proclaim itself afar. Beneath the chapel...a large crypt has been reserved, wherein to receive the bones and mortal remains of the brave men who died in the cause of Italian liberty on the plain of Magenta'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.