Prisoner of the Vatican (32 page)

While Rome is invaded by Italian troops on the morning of September 20,1870, foreign ambassadors console Pius IX. Cardinal Antonelli is at his side.

Nino Bixio, who had commanded one of Garibaldi's two ships in the 1860 assault on Sicily, was made a general in the Italian army despite his reputation as a hothead and a fierce anticleric. In leading one portion of the army's assault on Rome ten years later, he had no compunction about aiming cannonballs perilously close to St. Peter's.

Harry von Arnim, Prussia's ambassador to the Holy See, pictured in 1870, was suspected by the Italians of plotting the pope's return to power.

The pope blesses his defeated troops in St. Peter's Square on September 21,1870, as they begin their march out of Rome, bound for their countries of origin.

In this religious image of 1871, a praying Pius IX, in stormy seas, receives heavenly blessings as demonic figures swarm in the dark sky, and monks and nuns try to save themselves from drowning.

Pius IX portrayed as a prisoner, praying to the Madonna.

"Changes in Residence." In May 1871, as plans went ahead to shift the capital from Florence to Rome,
La Rana
shows Prime Minister Lanza moving in; the pope must take all his belongings out. These include a book marked "Index," bellows marked "Reaction," and a broken pot marked "Excommunication."

Umberto, the king's heir, holds his father's hand on his deathbed, in January 1878, as members of the cabinet, including Prime Minister Depretis (with white beard) and Minister of Internal Affairs Francesco Crispi (bald with white mustache, behind Depretis), look on. The excommunicated king's bed has a cross on the headboard.

The Pantheon, site of Victor Emmanuel H's funeral. The Latin inscription atop the pillars has been covered with the new words "To Victor Emmanuel, Father of the Country."

Pius IX's body on display in St. Peter's. His feet were placed so that the faithful could kiss them while filing by.

King Umberto I as a young man.

Leo XIII at his writing desk shortly after becoming pope in 1878.

The two old antagonists embrace at St. Peter's gate. Pius IX exclaims, "Victor! Victor! Up here I will deny you no longer, but I ask you to give me an affectionate hug." From
La Rana,
February 1878.