Italy, Kingdom. A Villa Spada Defence of Rome 1849 & 75th Anniversary of the Death of Luciano Manara 1924 Medal

In bronze and manufactured in 1924, obverse illustrating the left-facing bust of Luciano Manara, surrounded by the inscription "VILLA SPADA DIFESA DI ROMA 1849", reverse inscribed "BARZANO PER IL SETTANTACINQUESIMO ANNIVERSARIO DELLA MORTE LUCIANO MANARA MCMXXIV" within a full wreath of laurel leaves, measuring 35 mm (w) x 40 mm (h) inclusive of its integral suspension, spotting, very light contact, near extremely fine.

Footnote: Luciano Manara (March 23, 1825 - June 30, 1849) was an Italian soldier and politician of the Risorgimento era, who took part in the Roman Republic. He was born in Milan in 1825 and was a friend of Italian philosopher and writer, Carlo Cattaneo. In 1848, he participated in the Five Days of Milan (leading, among others, the operation that led to the capture of Porta Tosa) and in the First Italian War of Independence with a group of volunteers he had organized himself. On the Austrians' return, he fled to Piedmont, where he was put at the head of a corps of bersaglieri, with whom he fought on the Po and at La Cava (now renamed Cava Manara after him). Fighting in defence of the Roman Republic and as Garibaldi's chief of staff, he died aged only 24 at the battle at Villa Spada on June 30th. His funeral was held at the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, with the homily spoken by Don Ugo Bassi. For a short time his body remained in Rome, since his mother was unable to gain permission from the Austrian authorities in Vienna to have it taken to Milan. With the remains of Emilio Morosini and Enrico Dandolo (the latter having been killed at Villa Corsini), it was eventually brought to Vezia (Lugano), where it was temporarily laid to rest in the family vault of the Morosini. As Manara's mother's continued prayers and supplications, in 1853 the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph granted permission for the body to be taken to Barzanò (where the Manara family had a villa), so long as its progress and reburial there was "strictly private". Only on Italy's unification in 1864 was the Manara family allowed to erect their family monument, in grey and white stone in the Romantic style, with a bas-relief portrayal of him beside a weeping veiled female figure (representing his mother or the Motherland). The inscription on his monument reads: "Luciano Manara, leader of the illustrious legion of valiant men, gave his blood for the fatherland, claiming the honour of Italian arms against foreign mockery. His mother, worthy of envy and pity, places his beloved bones in this monument on which stands written a name, the boast and glory of Italy. He died fighting in Rome on 30 June 1849 with a hero's smile on his lips, an everlasting example to posterity."