Museo del Risorgimento – Leonessa d’Italia

The Brescia Risorgimento Museum was one of the first to be founded in Italy. Established by public proclamation in 1887, officially opened in 1893 at Palazzo Martinengo da Barco (current home of the Tosio Martinengo Art Gallery). After several exhibitions between Palazzo Tosio and the Castle, in 1959 found its place in the Big Mile, an old granary from the modern era located in the city fortress.

Following its closure in 2015 due to structural problems and extensive restoration work, the museum reopened its doors in the Great Mile. The exhibition route also extends to the Small Mile, an additional historical depot that now houses the reception, ticket office and bookshop.

The Museum Lioness of Italy preserves and valorises a vast heritage linked to Brescia's Risorgimento history, resulting above all from the donations that the citizenship allocated to the Civic Museums since the end of the 19th century. Over the course of more than a century, a heterogeneous collection of relics, paintings, flags and sculptures, which gives the museum a unique character.

Unlike past editions, the new installation offers a scientific selection of the most significant pieces. These include the new acquisitions of the Fondazione Brescia Musei, such as the majestic painting by Jean Adolphe Beaucé, General Niel on the field of Medole (1861). The route is also enriched by important loans and deposits of private individuals and institutions, who have generously contributed to strengthening the museum narrative.

➡️ The set-up, entirely bilingual (Italian and English), is developed through eight thematic sections.