Death mask of Napoleon

Metadata

Title

Death mask of Napoleon

Creator

Francesco Antommarchi

Date

1833 (circa) - 1835 (circa)

Description

When Napoleon died at St. Helena on May 5, 1821, his doctors -- Francis Burton and Francesco Antommarchi -- made a gypsum cast of his head. With the rehabilitation of the former French Emperor's reputation in the 1830s, Dr. Antommarchi produced plaster and bronze copies from the original death mask mold which he sold by subscription. Dr. Antommarchi later emigrated to Cuba where he met the young Philadelphia-born physician Richard Wilson to whom one of the plaster subscription masks was given. Dr. Wilson's son brought the mask to Philadelphia in the late 19th century and it descended through the Wilson family.

Extent

7.5" H x 6.0" W x 14.0" L

Medium

Cast plaster

Provenance

On permanent loan from the descendants of Augustus Wilson of Santiago de Cuba.

Collection

Bonaparte Collection, The Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Identifier

1977.02.01