The founder of modern Italy

I'm no historian, but I rather like this statue of Vittorio Emanuele II, who was the first king of modern Italy in the mid-19th century. I especially like the carpet draped on the plinth, which you can see best in large.

It also reminds me of the bit in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows when Ratty and Mole are walking along in the snow and Mole hears his home calling to him. He takes Ratty down there and in the corridor outside his front door there are statues of "Garibaldi and other heroes of modern Italy". This has always tickled me!