- Vittorio Emanuele II, print from: Album storico-artistico della guerra d'Italia nel 1859, Turin, 1860-62
9 th Januray 1878 saw the death in Rome of Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso of Savoy-Carignano, the first king of Unified Italy.
Born in Turin on 14 March 1820, he played animportant role in the period of the Risorgimento: A resolute believerin the cause of unity, he found the right political and military moment to bring the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to an end, and in 1870 to complete theunificatio of Italy with the liberation of Rome.
After the news of the death of king Vittorio Emanuele II, the Municipal Council of Naples voted for a considerable contribution to the realisation of a monument to the memory of the sovreign who had been known as the "Gentleman king" and "Father of the Nation".
In the month of February, when the Duke of Sandonato Gennaro Sambiase Sanseverino was Mayor, the Municipal Assembly approved the coining of a medal in memory of the solemn funeral of the first King of Italy.
