Risorgimento Museum - Grand Master of Freemasonry apron

This blue silk-trimmed apron features Masonic symbols, including the sun, moon, hourglass, and a five-pointed flaming star. The inscription 'Virtus' is emblazoned at the top. Freemasonry entered the Italian scene alongside the arrival of the first French Revolutionary army contingents. Many officers were Freemasons, and they spread the knowledge and rituals among Italian patriots, inaugurating a tradition that spanned the 19th century and the Italian Risorgimento movement. Revolutionaries, democrats, and liberals joined Masonic lodges in droves.