Paper Black and White Photography

Portrait and Patriotic Epitaph written by Garibaldi is a CDV albumen print, datable around 1870 circa. The portrait contains a patriotic dedication on the front and a long epitaph hand-written on the back. Very good condition, slight signs of wear on the edges, typical of an object touched and revered and in any case written in pen on almost its surface. Cm 9,5 x 5,5 In the picture a reproduction of an unpublished painting by Garibaldi, which can be placed for its physiognomy and clothing in the years after the "Expedition of the Thousand" (1860). The photographic print also dates around 1860/1870. On the front low margin there is written a powerfull patriottic slogan: "Venite a morire con me" (come die with me), on the back, in same ink and same handwriting there is a long epitaph, readable for almost all of its entirety, reminiscent of a young and strong man who fell for Italy. Unfortunately this long and poetic text, written on the small surface of the CDV, presents some illegible words written on the iedges, which certainly contained the signature, the date and probably the name to which it is dedicated. in the text there are no coretions, but the punctuation and the stylistic form, with some repetitions, suggests that it was written in one go. The handwriting, compared to other autographs by Garibaldi seems the same, especially in the use and in the form of capital letters, used as on other similar writings by Garibaldi to emphasize the words closest to the idea of death for the homeland. It is reasonable to think that this portrait was given to the loved ones of an important fallen soldier, by Giuseppe Garibaldi as his habit. There are other similar documents, in which the hero dedicates poetic verses to famous or friends, in this case, however, the expressive power refers to images of the period of the first Italian battles...