Exhibition in Italy pays tribute to Livio Zambeccari and the RS flag

The Civic Museum of the Risorgimento in Bologna, Italy, dedicated an exhibition to Tito Livio Zambeccari (1802-1862), a singular figure of a freedom fighter in Europe and South America, and to the origin of the flag of Rio Grande do Sul, conceived and designed by the Italian himself.

The exhibition - from June 12 to October 5, with a summer closure from July 21 to September 7 - is the Italian version of a show held in 2024 in Porto Alegre and other cities in Rio Grande do Sul, enriched by original memorabilia related to Zambeccari's participation in the Risorgimento wars for the Unification of Italy.

Descended from a noble family from Bologna and exiled after the Carbonari revolts of 1820-1821, Zambeccari arrived in southern Brazil in 1831, after having participated in the liberal revolts in Spain and the Rio da Prata.

A passionate naturalist, the Italian devoted himself to the study and classification of Brazilian flora. A geographer, he was the author of the first maps of the entire province and the capital, Porto Alegre.

Furthermore, fascinated by Mazzini's democratic ideas, he became editor of some republican newspapers.

With the outbreak of the Farroupilha War of Independence, which from September 20, 1835, pitted the rebels of the province of São Pedro (later Rio Grande do Sul) against the Brazilian imperial troops, Zambeccari assumed the position of secretary and chief of staff to the general of the rebel army, Bento Gonçalves, with whom he had a deep friendship.

The paternity of the flag used by the independence fighters who led the Farroupilha Revolution was attributed to Zambeccari, crossing several historical sources, including a painting preserved in the Museum that portrays him.

The entire exhibition revolves around this portrait, in addition to including panels that explore his figure and the contribution of other exiles from the Italian Risorgimento to the revolutionary events in Rio Grande do Sul.