Towards 2 June

80 years of the Republic, exhibition inaugurated in Montecitorio. President Fontana: 'A special invitation to young people'

The exhibition ahead of the 80th anniversary celebrations of the referendum where Italians were asked to choose between monarchy and republic

by Letizia Giostra

7 May 2026

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Celebrating the Republic Italian through the places where it was born. Opening to the public todaythe exhibition '1946: the Republic is born. The Constituent Assembly at Montecitorio', an initiative that is part of the rich calendar of celebrations planned for the 80th anniversary of the votes that changed the history of Italy. The choice fell on the Sala della Lupa, the very place where the results of the referendum were proclaimed.

Fontana: 'Never take for granted what our grandparents fought for'

Inviting the public to participate in the exhibition is the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana, who describes the exhibition as 'an initiative of particular cultural relevance that is part of the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the Constituent Assembly, a protagonist of the country's rebirth process after the fascist dictatorship'.

Mr. Fontana also defined the Sala della Lupa - where the event will take place - as a place that has 'a high symbolic value' as 'it was in that very room that the results of the institutional referendum that gave birth to the Republic, the offspring of the first elections by universal suffrage on 2 June 1946, were proclaimed'.

Finally, the Chamber president's invitation to the new generations to come and visit the exhibition 'to understand how important it is to live in a democracy, and not to take it for granted. Never take for granted the results for which our grandparents fought'.

Master Isgrò donates the unpublished work "Viva la Repubblica"

"Art is a power of freedom that is particularly needed at such a difficult time", it was with these words that the Maestro Emilio Isgrò donated to the Chamber for the occasion the work, unpublished, "Viva la Repubblica", unveiled during the inauguration.

A title that was thought out, pondered and finally deleted. The Sicilian-born artist explained that he did it because 'to delete in order to erase or to censor is of autocracies. To erase in order to bring out is proper to democracies. And we are a democracy. Viva la Repubblica also means the opposite reading, which is that our Republic is alive'. The artwork will be placed at the entrance to the Sala della Lupa itself where the exhibition will take place.

'What we wanted to achieve with the exhibition,' concluded the Secretary General of the Chamber, Fabrizio Castaldi, 'is the narration of a journey in stages, a dense, exciting and significant journey. A path that originates from the liberation of Rome up to the approval and entry into force of the new Constitution, which still represents the fundamental basis of our being a national community and the reference point of our civil and political coexistence'.