In Gardone Riviera, on the shores of Lake Garda, construction work began in 1921 on the Vittoriale degli Italiani, at the behest of poet, journalist and patriot Gabriele d'Annunzio. After staying there and falling in love with the lake's panorama, d'Annunzio decided to purchase a property to establish a monumental complex that would celebrate his life as a poet-soldier and the achievements of Italians during the First World War. The work was entrusted to the architect Giancarlo Maroni, a friend of the poet, who designed a rich complex of buildings, so vast that it also included streets, squares, gardens and waterways, as well as an amphitheatre (the “Parlaggio”) and the mausoleum where the poet is now buried.

'Every area, whether external or internal, conveys the uniqueness and imaginative personality of d'Annunzio,' reads the Vittoriale website, 'who collected as many memorabilia as possible here: sculptures, medals of valour, relics, thousands of books and works of art of all kinds. In short, a house-museum to the nth degree.'

The Vittoriale underwent restoration work using KEIM Granital® silicate paint.