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TIMELINE / Before 1800 to 1820 / ITALY
Date
Country
Theme
1800 - 1814
Italy
Cities And Urban Spaces
In the Napoleonic age, monumental architecture is intended to celebrate the glory of the new regime.
An example of that is the Foro Bonaparte, in the area around the Sforza’s Castle in Milan (a project
by Giovanni Antonio Antolini).
1809
Italy
Music, Literature, Dance And
Fashion
Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837), philosopher, scholar and one of the greatest Italian poets of all
times, writes his first poem.
1815 - 1816
Italy
Rediscovering The Past
Antonio Canova, acting on behalf of Pope Pio VII, recovers from France several pieces of art
belonging to the Papal States, which had been brought to Paris by Napoleon, including the Villa
Borghese’s archaeological collection.
1815
Italy
Political Context
The Congress of Vienna decides the restoration of pre-Napoleonic monarchies: Kingdom of Sardinia
(Piedmont, Genoa, Sardinia); Kingdom of Two Sicilies (Southern Italy and Sicily), the Papal States
(part of Central Italy), Grand Duchy of Tuscany and other smaller states. Much of northern Italy
(Milan, Venice, Trieste etc.) is under the Austrian empire.
1816
Italy
Rediscovering The Past
In Naples, inauguration of the Royal Bourbon Museum, whose holdings include the rich collection of
archaeological items belonged to Elisabetta Farnese and the pieces excavated in Pompei during the
18th century. All such holdings are personal properties of the king.
1816
Italy
Music, Literature, Dance And
Fashion
Gioachino Rossini (1795–1868), the young director of the San Carlo Theatre of Naples, the most
important opera house at the time, puts on stage in Rome the Barber of Seville. The opera, thanks to
its easy and passionate pacing, sets a new benchmark for the light operatic style, namely, the opera
buffa (comic opera).
1818 - 1819
Italy
Great Inventions Of The 19th
Century
Construction of the first steamboats. The first steamboat lines in the Mediterranean: Naples
shipyards build the steamboat Ferdinando I (for the line Naples–Genoa–Marseille); Genoa shipyards
build the steamboat Eridano (to be used in the Adriatic Sea).
1820
Italy
Rediscovering The Past
Edict by Cardinal Bartolomeo Pacca (1756–1844) dictating a comprehensive set of measures for the
protection of cultural heritage in the Papal States: it is the first comprehensive law on the protection
of cultural heritage issued in Italy and it will become a model for the other Italian states.