Museo del Risorgimento Leonessa d'Italia

The Risorgimento Museum ‘Leonessa d’Italia’ in Brescia’s Grande Miglio presents the city’s history within the Italian unification movement, with particular attention to the Ten Days of 1849. Its collection combines paintings, objects and documents with contemporary interpretive installations.

Why it matters

Brescia’s resistance to Austrian forces from 23 March to 1 April 1849, known as the Dieci Giornate, became a defining episode in the city’s history and gave rise to the name Leonessa d’Italia. Founded in 1887 and opened in 1893, the museum is among Italy’s earliest institutions devoted to the Risorgimento. Its updated presentation places the local uprising within the wider European revolutions of 1848–49.

What to notice

The exhibition is arranged in eight sections—Rivoluzione, Dissenso, Insurrezione, Guerra, Unità, Partecipazione, Mito and Eredità—moving between local and European events. Works by Faustino Joli depict the Ten Days; other paintings include Beaucé’s 1861 Il generale Niel sul campo di Medole, Angelo Inganni’s view of Zouaves on the city walls, Pietro Bouvier’s Anita morente and Eliseo Sala’s Pia de’ Tolomei. Digital installations include interactive maps and documents related to the uprising and the Garibaldini.

Context and history

The museum was founded by public proclamation in 1887 and opened in 1893. It moved to the Grande Miglio in 1959 and closed in 2015 for a long redevelopment, reopening with a redesigned exhibition in 2023. The museum preserves objects and documents donated by citizens and uses them to connect the Ten Days with the broader history of the Risorgimento.