Daniele Manin

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Daniele Manin by Urbano Nono, 1890
Piazzale Galileo
Florence, January 2024

“In 1862 the Venetians, who after the reconquer of Venice by the Austrians (1859), were exiles in Florence, decided to build a monument to their compatriot Daniele Manin (1804-1857), as a tangible sign of gratitude to the city that had hosted them and a due tribute to the patriot, a prominent figure of the Italian Risorgimento. With the liberation of Venice in 1866, the project was suspended but not forgotten, and it was resumed twenty years later, thanks to a new committee of Venetians living in Florence. Having completed quickly the competition to award the work (1888), the statue was commissioned to the Venetian sculptor Urbano Nono, who built it in 1889, the year in which it was cast in Micheli plant in Venice. Sent to Florence at the beginning of the following year, after careful testing done by the sculptor Soranzo and the director of the Regia Accademia delle Belle Arti (Royal Academy of Fine Arts) in Venice, Luigi Ferrari, the statue was provided with a suitable base and inaugurated during a solemn ceremony on 9th February 1890, placed at the centre of piazza Ognissanti, which since 1860, was entitled to Daniele Manin. In 1931 the monument was then moved, at request of architect Alfredo Lenzi of the Ufficio di Belle Arti of the Municipality of Florence, to one side of piazzale Galileo, because it limited the enjoyment of the ancient architectures.” (Monumento a Daniele Manin, Florence I Care)