The visit of Robin Byron, great-grandson of the great English Romantic poet, and his wife Robyn to the Byron and Risorgimento Museums, together with the precious gift of his ancestor’s walking stick, has once again projected the Museums—opened just 10 months ago—onto the pages of the major international newspapers. In today’s edition of The Times, on page 3 of the print version, with a prominent callout on the front page, there is an article titled “Italians who caught Byron’s wandering eye get perfect gift”, which follows a more extensive report that appeared immediately after yesterday afternoon’s ceremony in the online edition. Just months after the visit of King Charles and Queen Camilla of of the United Kingdom, and only a few days after that of the Heads of State of the Republic of San Marino, Denise Bronzetti and Italo Righi, and after the institutional visits of European Commission Vice President Raffaele Fitto and Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, yet another extraordinary international event has brought new attention to the Museums conceived by Antonio Patuelli, President of the Cassa di Ravenna.
Accompanied by photos of the splendid courtyard of the Byron and Risorgimento Museums, and by images of the poet and Teresa Guiccioli, the article recounts the dual narrative of Byron’s life and Robin Byron’s gift, in his capacity as President of the London Byron Society, to the Museums. The journalist then delves into the history of the walking stick: “As an inscription reveals,” we read, “it is an ordinary walking stick that Byron gave to Thomas Medwin”, a cousin of the poet Shelley; Medwin later published a book of Byron’s conversations and a biography of his cousin. The stick was later donated to the London Byron Society. As the article recalls, Byron is often portrayed with a cane, as in a drawing by the French artist Alfred d’Orsay. The journalist drew on notes prepared by Gregory Dowling and Diego Saglia, both university professors of English and Anglo-American literature, and Vice Presidents of the Italian Byron Society. During Sunday’s ceremony, they read passages from Byron’s works before accompanying, together with Mirella Falconi Mazzotti, President of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna, Lord and Lady Byron through the Museums. From yesterday, a new and precious relic—the walking stick—is on display, temporarily at the entrance to the bookshop, immediately available to be shown to visitors.
Ravenna, 29 September 2025
