On January 14-15, 1797, the 28 years old general Bonaparte, commander in chief of the First Republic's army in Italy, fought a battle with the Austrians that turned out to be one of the decisive episodes of the north Italian campaign, which eventually ended in October of the same year with the diplomatic success that the peace of Campo Formio was. The battlefield comprised the gorges of the neighbouring mountains as well as the plain bordered on the other side by a glacial moraine, and stretched roughly between today's settlements of Rivoli and Cristane. The Austrian forces, which outnumbered the Army of Italy by some 5 thousand men, were commanded by Jozsef Alvinczi, supported by Franz Lusignan and Heinrich of Reuss-Plauen, while on the French side the chief officers included Louis-Alexandre Berthier, André Masséna, Antoine Lasalle, Barthélemy Joubert and others.
The tiny town of Rivoli Veronese, situated in a picturesque
plain over the Adige and at the foothills of Monte Baldo, may be a little off
the road, despite its relative vicinity to the very popular Lago di Garda, but
the general guidebooks as well as the official website do not do it justice: with
its small museum devoted to the 1797
battle it is a place certainly worth a visit for a period fan, even if it means
a detour. The museum is private, and if one believed its own advertisements, it
might seem that it hosts just a small number of hardly precious items, probably
a map of the battlefield and several memorabilia of the kind that can be found
anywhere in a thematic museum.
To some extent this is indeed true: many of
the engravings may be found in most Napoleonic museums, but Rivoli boasts a truly
large collection of relatively rare (even if not unique) pictures and
documents, concerning both the battle itself and the Italian campaign, and the period
in general. Its collection includes your more or less generic 19th
century engravings covering the whole life of the Emperor and a wide range of
his generals and family, a large collection of porcelain figurines, day orders
and press clippings and several really
interesting documents and nice touches such as the listing of headlines in
French papers after the escape from Elba. The battle itself is documented by dioramas presenting the terrain and of the distribution of troops, paintings and
drawings, but also by finds excavated in the area: flints and bullets, guns,
epaulettes and regiment signs (note a fine collection of Austrian items).
The period is also represented by small
precious items among which the small collection of porcelain with portraits
draws attention, as well as a number of medals. Among the most interesting
objects is the actual travel bed of Marie-Louise (dated on the label to ca.
1800 which seems a quite liberal chronology). The curios include a small
fragment of the golden mantle from the Sacre on one hand and sample of soil
from Grotte Napoleone in Ajaccio, sent with an official letter by the Musée
Fesch. on the other hand.
The main museum is located on the first
floor of a small building and consists of one large room divided into sections,
where the core of the collection, including battlefield finds is kept, as well
as a smaller antechamber (numerous portraits of people involved in Napoleonic
wars) and a library, where one wall is covered in shelves lined with impressive
collection of topic-related books, while the other walls feature a number of
interesting drawings and engravings, and the central showcase presents a
collection of documents, partly related to the creation of the museum. On the
ground floor a small room hosts a collection of copies of documents related to
the Cisalpine Republic.
The Napoleonic collection upstairs is also complemented
by a small number of memorabilia from the Italian Risorgimento. The only
downside of the museum is that not all the items are properly labelled (some
are not labelled at all). In some cases I was at a loss, like for instance with
the following postcard apparently reproducing a painting (which I had not seen
before in any book or museum), clearly an allegorical one. Maybe someone can help me solve the
puzzle*:
It is worth paying attention to the miniature
model of the monument erected in on the battlefield (see below), since the
original column was destroyed by the Austrians in 1814 (it is also portrayed on one side of the modern monument).
The museum is run by a very nice and
helpful man (Italian speaking only, however), who will eagerly open it outside
the official opening hours and apparently does not subscribe to the typical
Italian (and Greek) tradition of closing the museums and monuments whenever an
opportunity presents itself, so one must not worry about a visit even on the
holiday of Ferragosto (Aug. 15th, which coincides with the Emperor’s
birthday), otherwise truly sacred to the Italians. The enthusiastic attitude is
apparently the heritage of the founder of the museum, Luigi Galanti (1897-1989;
descendant of Francesco Maria Galanti, who had accompanied Napoleon during his
exile in Elba), whose perseverance in collecting memorabilia paid off not only
for the man himself (he received the Legion d’Honneur for instance and a number
of other commendations) but also for the museum: its collection is being
continuously expanded by donations from people all over the world.
Souvenirs include a very nice series of
the vintage style postcards, a small
booklet on the history of the collection and its founder, posters advertising
the re-enactments of the battle. You should not forget to sign the visitor book
(don’t worry, you will be reminded to do it), since the museum boasts itself of
guests from all over the world.
The museum is located centrally in the
town, on the stretch of the main road which is called Piazza Napoleone, close
to the parish church, and it is hard to miss, but finding other places of
interest in the area can be a challenge, partly due to the fact that no map
available shows the proper location of the monument (the one that hangs in the
museum is completely inaccurate in placing the monument by the fort, while the
very detailed one on the board in the town square places it on the wrong side
of the motorway), and the house in Affi where the General Bonaparte held his
headquarters is not shown on any map at all.
To find the battlefield monument one
has to drive on the Strada Provinciale 11 from the museum to the north, past
the signs indicating the road to the fort (which is modern but quite
picturesque), follow SP11 when it turns right (direction Trento) at a major
crossroads in Zuane, and then drive on: after a short series of serpentines
going down the sign “monumento napoleonico/solo pedoni” will appear on the
right. Access is on foot only and there is little space for leaving the car (no
official parking lot), but since hardly anyone stops there I doubt it is ever impossible.
Looking down beyond the motorway one can see a small grove of cypresses with a
whitish shape in their midst: that is the monument. (Actually only once you
have spotted the cypresses it becomes obvious that the monument is where it is).
To reach the spot one has to go down a
comfortable gravel path, which once used to be accessible by car, judging by
the remaining signs, and pass beneath the motorway. Just after the bridge there
is a path to the left, barred from car access, leading up towards a vineyard.
The path is again comfortable, even if rougher than the previous one, and goes
up gently. Once up, you simply need to follow it to its natural turn between
the grapevine rows (no need to pass under their branches, as it may seem at the
first glance). This path leads straight to the monument site, which is encircled
by the cypresses and features the reconstructed podium of the original obelisk
with inscriptions commemorating the fallen, and a slightly battered French flag
on a pole. Behind the podium the remains of the destroyed column can be seen.
The site gives a nice view on the surrounding area, but if you want to see the moraine
that borders the battlefield it is better to stop on the road just outside
Rivoli.
The Cà
de’Ri, or Napoleon’s headquarters in today’s Affi, can be reached easily
from the roundabout on the outskirts of the town: the street named conveniently
Cà de’Ri is right off the small roundabout
that connects SP29b and SP9 (on the 29b axis, almost in front of a large
shopping area). The house is not accessible to the public, but a board informs
us of its historical meaning.
To complement the visit in Rivoli one may
drop into the only local restaurant, almost in front of the museum. It is
called Bonaparte, and neighbours the Napoleon apartment hotel and serves
excellent food at surprisingly affordable prices. Even if you choose to dine
outside in the garden, do not miss the inside: it is full of quite interesting
items, including very fine collection of porcelain figurines and vintage
posters featuring Napoleonic generals.
Address of the Museum: 14 Piazza Napoleone
I, Rivoli Veronese
GPS data for the museum: N 45.57134 E 010.81189
GPS data for the monument: N 45.58098 E 010.82132
GPS data for Cà de’Ri: N 45.55288 E 010.81189
Museum opening hours:
Phone number to arrange a visit outside the opening hours:
Entry: full EUR 2.50, reduced 1.50.
To reach Rivoli by car from the A22
motorway take the Affi exit and continue to Rivoli on SP29b and then SP11 (Rivoli
is signalled on the main roundabouts and crossroads from Affi on). If arriving
from the Garda on SS450 take the turn in the direction of A22 on the big
roundabout and then follow SP29b and SP11 as above. From SP11 turn towards
Rivoli on the crossroads (there is a sign for the museum). If arriving from
other directions you have to get to SP29b or SP11 and continue past Zuane and
turn left to Rivoli when indicated.
* I received the following answer on Tumblr from valinaraii:
"The postcard you mention is depicting Hortense de Beauharnais and Napoleon visiting Malmaison in 1815 and seeing Josephine’s ghost. Seems an allusion to a well known passage of Hortense’s memoirs. Unfortunately I have no idea about who is the painter." Great thanks, since I am no specialist in Josephine and her family, at least not yet.
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