He led an abstemious life in Rome, maintaining himself by painting Romantic landscapes which frequently included historical subjects. He also painted scenes for a self-composed opera. In 1830 he returned to Turin and, after his father's death in 1831, moved to Milan. He resided in Milan for twelve years, moving in the city's literary and artistic circles and, in 1834, helped to organise the "Salotto Maffei" salon, hosted by Clara Maffei. He became an intimate of Alessandro Manzoni the novelist, whose daughter he married. At that point, literature instead of art became his chief occupation; he produced two historical novels, "Niccolò dei Lapi" and "Ettore Fieramosca", in imitation of Walter Scott. The novels had a strong political context, with d'Azeglio aiming to illustrate the evils of foreign domination in Italy and to reawaken national feeling.