Museo nazionale delle residenze Napoleoniche Villa S. Martino

Shortly after his arrive on Elba island, Napoleon acquired some properties of the Manganaro family, a few miles from the Palazzina dei Mulini in Portoferraio, including a rustic country house, with the intent of transforming it into a comfortable and refined home that had nothing to envy  to the parisian mansions. The work were carried out quickly and included the expansion of the building, the renovation of the prospectus, the arrangement of an airy roofgarden overlooking Portoferraio's harbor, and the interiors decoration, entrusted to Antonio Vincenzo Revelli. Following the precipitous escape from Elba and the well-known napoleonic story, Villa San Martino passed to the heirs of the Emperor until 1856, until was acquired by the noble Russian Anatolio Demidoff, a great art collector and, above all, an admirer of Napoleon. Demidoff did not just reshape the villa but also planned to build a large museum dedicated to many napoleonic memorabilia collections; for this he commissioned the construction of a gallery that still carries its name.

The many prints preserved in the Museum come from two separated collections: the Turini-De Micheli collection, purchased by the Italian Governement in 1985, and the Olschki collection, donated by Aldo, Leo Samuele Olschki’s son, founder of the prestigious publishing house.

The first nucleus, assembled in Rome by Guglielmo Turini, consists of 230 Napoleonic  engravings  and 12 decorated plates with images of Napoleonic iconography. There are a lot of portraits of Napoleon, as general and emperor and of his family, especially of beautiful wife Giuseppina; there are also some unusual scenes of private life in which the great political man played with his son. There are numerous portraits of the Great Armée officers and paintings describing his major battles. There are also many anecdotes and satirical images from the anti-Napoleon coalition countries, where the general is strongly attacked and laughed.

The museum reopens to visitors on Wednesday 1 July 2020

General indications for entry

It is necessary to follow the instructions provided by the staff and comply with the safety provisions:

• Temperature detection by staff and entry prohibited in case of fever higher than 37.5 °

• Entrance with mask requirement

• Wash / sanitize your hands often

• Respect the interpersonal distance of at least 1.5 m.

• Do not stay in the passageways

• Show up at the museum ticket office at least ten minutes before the start of the visit