Monumento alla Libertà

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Monumento alla Libertà (Monument to Freedom) by Marino Quartieri, 1972
Piazza San Domenico
Modena, May 2024

“The monument is composed as follows: a bronze statue, depicting a young woman who symbolizes redeemed Italy who, having broken the chains of slavery, seems to call to read the commemorative epigraph of the patriots, is placed on a granite boulder in front of a tall and powerful truncated obelisk made of large blocks of vermilion granite, placed on a square base with three steps. The proposal to raise a monument to the patriots of the Risorgimento uprisings of 1821 and 1831 was put forward by the illustrious Modenese Gaetano Moreali (1795-1889) in December 1886 and immediately accepted by the Municipality which identified the square in front of the church of San Domenico as the most suitable place for the placement of the work. Moreali undertook to have the work carried out at his own expense. The conception and execution of the monument were entrusted to Silvestro Barberini from Modena who, having obtained the consent of Moreali, the mayor and the municipal council, began work in the first months of 1888. The monument consisted of the original three-metre-high bronze statue by Barberini which depicted Italy in the most traditional iconography of the late nineteenth century: a sumptuous female figure covered in abundant Roman-inspired drapery and her head surrounded by a turreted crown. The sculpture was placed on a granite boulder in front of an obelisk, placed on a square base. The inauguration took place on June 2, 1899. The statue of Silvestro Barberini was removed in 1942 and melted down to obtain war material. The beautiful figure of a young woman that replaces the original one is a work from 1972 by the Modenese sculptor Marino Quartieri (1917-2002) who remained faithful to the same theme, but carried it out with admirable personal style.” (Monument to the Martyrs of 1821 and 1831, Regione Emilia Romagna)