Death Mask of Napoleon

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During Napoleon Bonaparte's time, it was customary to create a precise replica of a great leader who had recently passed away. A mixture of wax or plaster was carefully applied over Napoleon's face and then removed after the form had hardened. From this impression, multiple copies were cast. Much mystery surrounds the origins and whereabouts of the original cast molds, with only four genuine bronze death masks known to exist. Napoleon's original death mask was created on 7th May 1821, just a day and a half after his death at the age of 51 on the island of St. Helena. It is widely believed that Dr. Antommarchi cast the original "parent mold", which would spawn many bronze copies. However, some historians dispute this claim, asserting that it was actually surgeon Francis Burton who cast the original mold and performed Napoleon's autopsy. Dr. Antommarchi obtained a secondary plaster mold from his British colleagues, which he used to make multiple copies of the death mask in both bronze and plaster in France. It is also believed that Madame Bertrand, Napoleon's attendant, managed to steal part of the cast, leaving Burton with just the ears and back of the head. Burton took Bertrand to court in an attempt to retrieve the cast but was unsuccessful. A year later, Madame Bertrand gave Dr. Antommarchi a copy of the mask, from which he made several copies. One of these he sent to Lord Burghersh, the British envoy in Florence, asking him to pass it to the famous sculptor Antonio Canova. Unfortunately, Canova died before he could use the mask, and instead, the piece remained with Burghersh. The National Museums Liverpool version, cast by E. Quesnel, is thought to be a descendant of that original mask. Some people believe that Dr. Antommarchi lived in Cuba for a short period and contracted yellow fever while there. He became close to General Juan de Moya before his death, during which time he made a death mask from his mold for the general. It is believed that the mask still resides in The Museum in Santiago de Cuba, province of Oriente. New Orleans authorities moved their death mask in 1853, and it disappeared during the tumult surrounding the Civil War. A former city treasurer spotted the mask in 1866 as it was being hauled to the dump in a junk wagon. Rather than return the mask to the city, the treasurer took it home and put it on display there. Eventually, Napoleon's death mask wound up in the Atlanta home of Captain William Greene Raoul, president of the Mexican National Railroad. In 1909, Captain Raoul read a newspaper article about the missing mask and wrote to the mayor of its whereabouts. In exchange for suitable acknowledgement, Raoul agreed to donate the death mask to New Orleans. The mayor transferred the mask to the Louisiana State Museum that year.