Curators Choice – Napoleon’s Death Mask

A copy of Napoleon Bonaparte’s death mask hangs on the wall in the Library at Normanby Hall.

Napoleon lived between 1769 and 1821. He was a French general and statesman who led a series of campaigns during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He became Emperor of the French in 1804 until 1814, and again briefly in 1815. However, in June of 1815 he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and exiled to the remote island of St Helena in the North Atlantic. In 1821, at the age of 51, he died of stomach cancer. A day and a half later, his death mask was created.

In this video, Curator – Decorative Arts, Madeleine Gray, takes a closer look at Napoleon and the history of death masks.

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