Today Italians celebrate the Festa della Liberazione, a national holiday commemorating the liberation of Italy from Nazi occupation of Italy and the end of fascist dictatorship.
Monument to the Partisan is one of Bergamo-born Giacomo Manzù’s (1908-1991) most famous and moving works. A leading sculptor of his time, Manzù was commissioned to produce a monument to the Resistance, dedicated to the anti-fascist partisans who fought for freedom.
The bronze sculpture is 3.2m tall and was unveiled to the citizens of Bergamo on 25 april 1977 and stands in Piazza Matteotti. It depicts a young partisan fighter hanging from his feet, as a woman reaches towards him in grief.
Bergamo. Giacomo Manzù, “Monumento al partigiano” (1977), in Viale Papa Giovanni XXII. Photo by Paolo Monti.