I mattoidi al primo concorso pel monumento in Roma a Vittorio Emanuele

by Carlo Dossi

"I mattoidi al primo concorso pel monumento in Roma a Vittorio Emanuele" by Carlo Dossi is an ironic critical essay published in 1884. When Italy held an open competition to design a monument for King Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome, 239 participants submitted proposals. Dossi witnessed the process and created a scathing yet humorous commentary on the bizarre, impractical, and absurd designs submitted by amateur architects. His "gallery of horrors" ridicules projects featuring unstable columns, misguided pyramids, and monuments doubling as bridges or public baths, while praising rare serious submissions.