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English 
العربية In September, the patriot had set out for Lugano, heading to the home of Sara Levi, the widow of Moses Nathan, one of his oldest and most devoted supporters. His return to Pisa dates back to 6 February 1872. By that point, his health conditions had become irreversibly compromised. For these reasons as well, he had decided to move into the house of Sara's daughter, Janet Nathan, and her husband Pellegrino Rosselli, at number 39 Via della Maddalena. This was therefore the place of his death, which occurred in the presence of two Genoese followers, Felice Dagnino and Adriano Lemmi, as well as the Rosselli family itself.
The news of Mazzini's death spread rapidly, throwing the entire republican movement into turmoil. In the following hours, its leaders arrived in Pisa: Agostino Bertani, Maurizio Quadrio, Aurelio Saffi and Federico Campanella. The following day, Monday 11 March, they all gathered around the deceased's bed, among other things to discuss the future of the movement and how to preserve the memory of its founder within the national political reality.
The idea of embalming Mazzini's body then began to gain ground. Bertani in particular supported the opportunity to resort to the new technique developed by the Lodi physician Paolo Gorini, the so-called "petrification": compared with the traditional method, this system would have made it possible to preserve the body indefinitely and consequently ensure its permanent public display. The discussion took on very heated tones: several participants, including Sara Nathan, expressed a clearly contrary opinion regarding petrification, invoking Mazzini's own aversion to practices aimed at preserving the bodies of the deceased. In the end, however, Bertani's idea prevailed, and Gorini was immediately summoned to Pisa. While waiting for the distinguished specialist, there was time to prepare the body and display it the following day, 12 March, on the ground floor of the Rosselli house.
Already early in the morning, all of Pisa witnessed a bustling crowd of individuals arriving from the four corners of the Kingdom and sometimes even from beyond its borders: sources describe an orderly and uninterrupted procession of people who patiently waited at the entrance of the Rosselli house, then removed their hats and filed past, moved, before the Father of the Nation.
Silvestro Lega was also part of the funeral procession. Having learned the news of Mazzini's death in Florence, the painter, like many other patriots, had set aside every occupation to rush to Pisa.
The initial idea for the last portrait of Giuseppe Mazzini should be placed precisely at that moment, on that cold March day when Lega stood before and paid his final personal tribute to the hero's body. Gradually, through a series of intermediate steps, that idea took shape over the following eighteen months, condensing into a canvas his experiences as a man, a patriot and, naturally, an artist.
