The story behind the 19th century Death Mask of Napoleon
This article originally appeared on Culture24.
Napoleon Bonaparte's death mask, taken from the tropical island the leader was banished to
Cast of the Death Mask of Napoleon (1830s). Plaster of Paris© The Trustees of the British MuseumNapoleon died on St Helena on May 7 1821. It was normal practice for a death mask to be made as a final portrayal of prominent figures.
It would have been appropriate for Francesco Antommarchi, Napoleon’s physician, to undertake the procedure, but no plaster of Paris was immediately available.
In the event, the death mask was taken by Francis Burton, a British surgeon present on St Helena.
This produced a negative mould in several pieces. When Burton attempted to take a positive cast from the mould, the facial part was damaged.
The damaged mould was taken by Antonmmarchi, who set about reconstituting the missing parts with the help of a drawing of Napoleon on his death bed by the artist Joseph Rubidge.
It seems that a small number of casts from the mould were made on St Helena. The British Museum's mask is a second, or perhaps third, generation cast taken from one of these originals.
Printed propaganda tended to either revile or glorify Napoleon Bonaparte at the turn of the 19th century.
His formidable career coincided with the peak of political satire as an art form on both sides of the English Channel.
2015 marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo – the final undoing of the brilliant French general and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821).
- You can see a cast of the death mask and other memorabilia acquired by British admirers in Bonaparte and the British: Prints and Propaganda in the Age of Napoleon at the British Museum until August 16 2015.
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