Altere della Patria

The Altare della Patria — also called the Vittoriano or the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II — was completed in 1935 to commemorate the first king of unified Italy. The building is enormous, white, and architecturally controversial; Romans have called it the "wedding cake" and the "typewriter" for over a century. It also holds the Italian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and is essentially the country's national altar.

Photographed in October 2016 in black and white during my first trip to Italy. The Vittoriano is one of those buildings that is impossible to ignore and difficult to love; the camera, at least, finds it cooperative.