Under the dual leadership of king Victor Emmanuel II (1849-1878) and prime minister Camillo Cavour, Sardinia, in alliance with France under Napoleon III, defeated the Austrians in the battle of Solferino (1859) and annexed Lombardy (Treaty of Zürich). The carnage there prompted the creation of the Red Cross by the Swiss Jean-Henri Dunant.

The battle of Magenta was the prelude to Solferino, not only in having taken place before, but also in being exceptionally bloody. It was won by the Franco-Italian alliance against Austria in 1859.

Although a fervent republican, Giuseppe Garibaldi was willing to sacrifice ideology for patriotism and after he overthrew the Bourbon kingdom of Sicily and Naples, he placed it under the rule of king Victor Emmanuel, with whom he is seen here meeting on a country road. The painting is entirely symbolical.

In this picture, Garibaldi on foot fights down a grenadier of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies during the battle of Milazzo, which in 1860 resulted in the liberation of Sicily. Leading his Red Shirts, Garibaldi proceeded to occupy Naples and place his conquests under Victor Emmanuel, the first king of Italy.