#risorgimento

[7pleiades7]

La Meditazione (also known as Meditation and Meditation on the History of Italy) (1851) by Francesco Hayez (Italian, 1791 – 1882), oil on canvas, 90 cm (35.4 in) x 70 cm (27.5 in), Galleria d’arte moderna Achille Forti, Verona

[illustratus]

The Departure of the Garibaldian by Gerolamo Induno

[swallowtail-ageha]

Three baddies + a walking cat who one day ordered a ticket for a tram in moscow

[365chapitres]

[sifya]

If the Italian Chasseurs appear in the series, they must be secular Chasseurs. The story takes place 19 years after the Capture of Rome, after all. And even though Italians were fervent Catholics, they still fought against the temporal power of the Church. Let’s be honest — the Vatican and the Catholic Church acted like complete assholes toward Italy, and France often supported the Papal States in keeping their temporal control over the peninsula. So, in a world where the Church maintains an army to hunt vampires, the resentment would be even stronger. One very important thing about the Risorgimento is that some groups wanted Italy’s reunification to include the Papal State as principal ruler, so all Italy would have been Papal state Here’s my theory: the Granatum family were former Papal nobles who sided with the Kingdom of Italy, while Gano’s family and his faction remained loyal to the Pope. That’s why they resent the Granatum family—not only did they betray the Pope, but they also kept their titles and wealth. I believe Astolfo is actually a political hostage, though he doesn’t realize it. He genuinely thinks Italy abandoned him, but in truth, he’s being used as a pawn by the French Church to control the secular faction within the Italian Chasseurs. It’s strange that Astolfo seems completely orphaned—despite his family’s importance, there’s no mention of relatives or any Chasseur who knows them. In his flashbacks, he’s utterly isolated, as if no one knew Lord Granatum personally. The only connection he had was Oliver’s father, and since “Oliver” is a British name, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a British hunter, maybe even an ambassador for the Anglican Church. The Paladin rank seems inspired by the Mohs hardness scale—Oliver is represented by the obsidian, opposing Ronald, who’s jasper. Ronald isn’t noble and has less experience than Oliver, but the contrast fits. By classist logic oliver despite being noble if he is from Anglican church, it will be worthy less of Ronald who is Catholic. In any case, I imagine the Italian Chasseurs wearing uniforms inspired by the Regio Esercito (Royal Army) and behaving like soldiers hardened in the trenches. Noé and Vanitas’s usual tactics wouldn’t work against them. Italians fought foreign invaders before—so to them, vampires are just “Austrians with fangs.” They don’t fight for honor of Church but to survive.

[anarco-misantropo]

[claudia1829things]

"Changing Angelica Sedara"

"CHANGING ANGELICA SEDARA"

Upon a rewatch of "THE LEOPARD", Netflix's 2025 adaptation of Giueseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s 1958 novel, I have noticed a few changes that I found disturbing. One of those changes featured one Angelica Sedara, the daughter of a local Sicilian politician, who becomes involved with aristocratic Salinas and Falconeri families.

Lampedusa had portrayed Angelica in his novel as the beautiful daughter of the ambitious mayor of mayor of Donnafugata and a newly rich landowner, Don Calogero Sedara. She and her father became acquainted of Fabrizio Corbèra, Prince of Salina; his family and the Prince's equally ambitious nephew, Prince Tancredi Falconeri. Some time following the landing of revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi and his troops on Sicily, Prince Salina and his family traveled to his summer estate in Donnafugata. There, they discovered Don Sedara had become wealthy through dodgy business transactions and political influence. At a luncheon hosted by Prince Salina, Don Sedara introduced his daughter Angelica to the aristocratic family. Tancredi became smitten with her, to the dismay of the Prince's daughter Concetta, who loves her cousin. Although aware of his daughter's feelings, the Prince accepted the inevitable and helped arrange Tancredi's betrothal to Angelica. In a twist different from the novel and the 1963 movie adaptation, Tancredi and Angelica were married in Episode Four.

Not long after the young couple's marriage, they move to Turin, the capital of the newly unified Italy. Sometime after the death of his oldest son, Paolo, the Prince received an offer to become a senator in Episode Five. He and Concetta stayed at Tancredi and Angelica's new home. During this visit, both father and daughter discovered the couple's new marriage had transformed into a loveless one, when they realized the one thing they truly shared was ambition. The Prince had also Angelica having a sexual tryst with some French ambassador. After the Prince confronted Tancredi about this, the latter admitted he knew about his wife's "transgressions" and accepted them, because her trysts helped advance his political ambitions. The Prince eventually learned from Angelica that Tancredi had began cheating on her not long after the honeymoon. The miniseries' last episode featured a brief scene of Angelica engaged in a sexual tryst with another politician.

All I can say is . . . WHAT THE HELL? Why on earth did the screenwriters for "THE LEOPARD", Richard Warlow and Benji Walters, decide to transform Angelica into some kind of political whore for her husband? What was the point of this change in Angelica's character? Granted, she had one affair during her marriage to Tancredi in the novel. But it happened years later and only once . . . with an old friend of Tancredi's. The latter had been sexually unfaithful to her for years. But the literary Angelica had never continuously cheated on Tancredi out of some kind of revenge or inadvertently prostitute herself to other men, on behalf of her husband's ambitions.

So, why did Warlow and Walters make this toxic change to Angelica's character? To enhance Concetta's standing in the saga? To make Lampedusa's saga more salacious? Or did they make this change to convey some message that ambitious women are naturally promiscuous? Who knows? It might be latter. I had once come across an online comment that Angelica's willingness to have sex with other men on behalf of Tancredi's career seemed like a clear indication of how far women are willing to go in regard to their ambitions. I nearly threw up after reading that particular passage. Then again, this change in Angelica's characterization may have originated from a combination of all three - to enhance Concetta's character, make the story more . . . "sexy" and convey some toxic opinion on ambitious women.

As I had earlier stated, no such scenario regarding Angelica Sedara aka Princess Falconeri prostituting herself on behalf of her husband's political ambitions existed in Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel. Nor did it exist in Luchino Visconti's 1963 film. Not only did I find the screenwriters' decision to transform Angelica into some kind of whore very disturbing, but also misogynist. But what I found even more disturbing were the reactions to this particular change. Or better yet . . . the lack of reactions to this change. Especially from the more progressive articles and blogs, which I believe should have complained about how Warlow and Walters had spoon fed this ridiculous Madonna/Whore nonsense to television viewers.

[gregor-samsung]

“ Guardò lo stemma sopra il caminetto della famiglia illustre da cui discendeva questo Galvano: un leone incoronato ritto su due zampe e con l'altre due che grattava l'aria. «Ma come, come, - si chiese il Mandralisca, - questi nostri antenati sono diventati nobili, per avere badato ai proprii o agli interessi d'altri? E se è vero il primo caso, com'è vero, allora tutta l'umanità risulta nobile... o pure, ahimè, gli uomini siam tutti ignobili!... Tranne, tranne qualcuno», ammise il Mandralisca. E pensò ai poeti, agli scienziati, ai filosofi, agli uomini di studio, avulsi e distaccati dalla lotta per procurarsi beni...

«Ma no, ma no! - si disse. - C'è quasi sempre qualcuno dietro a loro, un padre o un mecenate, che ha arraffato e provveduto a riempirgli il ventre, dandogli agio cosí di poetare o inseguir ricerche, idee, esperimenti. E io, io stesso, - pensò, - se non avessi avuto da mio padre Colombo, Giarrizzello, Musa e tutti gli altri fondi, avrei potuto scapricciarmi a inseguir uccelli, uova di palma, lumachelle; a raccogliere reperti, tesori d'arte, monete, quadri?...» E il pensiero gli andò al suo gioiello, al ritratto d'ignoto d'Antonello. E, dal viso dell'ignoto, scivolò naturalmente a quello, vivo, acuto, singolare, d'un marinaio sconosciuto, d'uno scaltro mercatante, d'un rivoluzionario acceso... «Forse, forse l'Interdonato è un nobil uomo...» concluse il Mandralisca. E guardò fuori dal balconcino, nel vuoto, senza vedere la corona di colline che si stagliava tra il cielo e la pianura su cui giaceva questo castello con il villaggio attorno “

Vincenzo Consolo, Il sorriso dell'ignoto marinaio, Einaudi (collana Supercoralli), 1976¹; pp. 72-73.