An exhibition in Bologna on Leopoldo Serra, the first bersagliere of the Porta Pia breach

It was the Bolognese Leopoldo Serra (1829 - 1912), leading the 12th Bersaglieri Battalion, who was the first officer of the advancing Royal Army to cross the edge of the breach opened in the Aurelian Walls a few meters from Porta Pia, on the morning of September 20, 1870 around 9 a.m., after about four hours of cannon fire, in a Rome conquered and removed, after a thousand years, from papal temporal power. It was the last act of the Risorgimento dream come true and the first step, of enormous historical and symbolic significance, toward the future unity of the Italian nation, with the Eternal City annexed to the Kingdom of Italy and acclaimed Capital of the entire peninsula in the solemn message announced by General Raffaele Cadorna.

Just a few days after the 150th anniversary of the Taking of Porta Pia, the Museo civico del Risorgimento in Bologna retraces the memory of one of its most illustrious fellow citizens, a protagonist of the deed of arms that handed Papal Rome over to Italy, through the documentary exhibition Leopoldo Serra, a protagonist of the Risorgimento between Rome and Turin visitable from September 18 to November 21, 2020, and curated by Otello Sangiorgi and Mirtide Gavelli.

The arrangement of the exhibition traces the milestones of Leopoldo Serra’s adventurous life, in which the crucial events, fundamental issues, personalities, myths, values and ideals of the Third Italy are reflected: from the Wars of Independence to brigandage, from the Roman question to the social question, from the “poetry” of the Risorgimento to the “prose” of the post-unification decades.

On display are a number of mementos and personal memorabilia of Serra and his comrades-in-arms, preserved in the museum’s permanent collection and not normally accessible to the public. Among those of greatest biographical and historical value are a Bersaglieri officer’s order saber complete with scabbard, on the blade of which are the owner’s name and the inscription “June 24, 1859 - September 20, 1870,” the dates, respectively, of the Battle of Solferino and the taking of Rome; a small six-shot revolver used in the fight against brigandage; the military-style black cloth cloak worn during the assault on Porta Pia, where the 23 holes caused by bullets fired by papal soldiers, which were mended by Roman women while the gallant officer was hospitalized, are still visible; and the medallion box with 11 decorations and conforming ribbons in which his entire military career is summarized.

The exhibit is completed by documentation (kept in the museum’s library) on the day of Sept. 20, the celebration of which constituted for decades a reason for controversy and friction between the Church and the new Italian state in the name of the so-called "Roman Question," which was finally concluded only in 1929 with the signing of the Lateran Pacts.

Born in Bologna on February 28, 1829, Leopoldo Serra completed his studies in his city, first at the Barnabites, then at the University, where he graduated in mathematics. In 1854, animated by patriotic sentiments, he emigrated to Piedmont and, also availing himself of a recommendation from Marco Minghetti, enlisted as a volunteer and was assigned to the 2nd Horse Artillery Battery; in December 1855 he was appointed second lieutenant of artillery; in 1858 he was transferred to the 3rd Bersaglieri Battalion.

He took part in the Second War of Independence (1859), where he particularly distinguished himself in the Battle of San Martino: although wounded he did not want to abandon his combat post; for this he was decorated with a silver medal for military valor. From 1863 to 1866, as captain of the 4th Bersaglieri, Serra took part in the repression of Brigandage in the province of Avellino and in Basilicata, performing acts of great courage. In 1866 (Third War of Independence) he received another medal for valor for his conduct at the Battle of Custoza, where he had a glorious part in the celebrated “quadrato di Villafranca” the clash in which Italian troops repulsed the Austrian cavalry that had tried to take Prince Umberto, the future King of Italy, prisoner. On September 20, 1870 he participated in the Taking of Rome with the rank of captain and, in command of the Bersaglieri of the 12th Battalion-the major who was supposed to lead the corps was ill-was the first officer to enter the Eternal City, also being wounded in the fighting; on that occasion he was awarded the Cross of the Military Order of Savoy. In 1872 he was retired with the rank of major “for wounds sustained in war.” In subsequent years he was also awarded the Crosses of Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy and the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

In 1897 he promoted a national subscription to donate, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Albertine Statute, a flag of honor to the city of Turin. The proposal met with general approval; an executive committee was formed, chaired by the Mayor of Bologna Alberto Dallolio, which soon gained the adherence of major Italian cities, whose mayors went on to form the Committee of Honor. The flag offered was described as “a unique work perhaps of its kind and of great artistic value,” and was made in Bologna: designed by Silvio Gordini, embellished with goldsmith work by Fratelli Zanetti, embroidered by Gisella Ballarini assisted by Enrica Stagni, Maria Podetti and Emma Zambonelli. The hood that contained it was designed by Alfredo Tartarini and made by Sante Mingazzi. The flag was accompanied by an artistic scroll by Achille Casanova, with a dedication by Gino Rocchi. The official donation ceremony, held at the entrance of Palazzo Madama in Turin on May 2, 1898, constituted one of the most important patriotic ceremonies of those years. With the sum advanced by the subscription, Serra then proposed to establish a “Character Award,” meaning by character “the continuous consistency between an honest thought and perservering action.” Thus, for several years, the City Hall of Turin distributed the Prize to those who had shown greater proof of greatness of character.

Part of his personal mementos and documents are preserved today at the Museo del Risorgimento in Bologna. He died in 1912, having dictated the epigraph for his own tomb, which is still present today in the Certosa Cemetery (Cloister Annexed to the Maggiore, north side, outer perimeter): “Here he rests / near his loved ones / Leopoldo Serra / a major in the Bersaglieri / who only longed / to expire his soul in God / defending / in the inevitable future events / the independence and unity of the Homeland / affirming gratitude / to the loyal and valiant / house of Savoy.”

In 1970 a street (more precisely a “ramp”) in Bologna, near Piazza Venti Settembre, was dedicated to Leopoldo Serra.

Also in 1970, at 3 Via Castelfidardo in Bologna, the City of Bologna had a plaque placed bearing the following inscription:

AT CIVIC NUMBER EIGHT / IN THIS STREET / IN THE EXHILARATING MEMORY / OF THE BATTLES FOR INDEPENDENCE / FOUGHT AS A VALIANT / LIVED LONG AND DIED / LEOPOLDO SERRA / IN S. MARTINO, IN VILLAFRANCA, IN IRPINIA / HIS VALOR SHONE / ON XX SEPTEMBER MDCCCLXX / PORTA PIA SAW HIM / AT THE HEAD OF HIS BERSAGLIERI / WHO FIRST ENTERED ROME / ACCLAIMED CAPITAL

A.P.

THE BOLOGNESE LIBERALS IN PERPETUAL REMEMBRANCE THIS

MEMORY THEY LAID ON XX SEPTEMBER MCMLXX

For all information about the exhibition you can visit the official website of Bologna Musei.

Pictured: The Breach of Porta Pia, Bologna, Litog. Barbieri, 1895 (published in "Il papagallo," a Bolognese periodical, on the occasion of the XXV anniversary of the Taking of Rome)

An exhibition in Bologna on Leopoldo Serra, the first bersagliere of the Porta Pia breach

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