Napoleonic Museum of the Misericordia
Objects and artefacts relating to Napoleon's exile on Elba on display in Portoferraio
The Napoleonic Museum in the Misericordia of Portoferraio is attached to the church of the Misericordia, erected in 1677, and collects the relics of Napoleon's period in exile on the Isola d'Elba.
The route through the museum is divided between three rooms. In the first you find a 14th-century marble statue of the Madonna and Child attributed to Tino di Camaino from the Pisan school, but also canvasses from the 17th and 18th centuries, depicting saints and holy images; the first statute of the Archconfraternity of the Misericordia (1566); a precious book of anthems from 1676, votive offerings, clerical vestments, furniture and sacred objects which testify to over four centuries of life at the institution.
The second and third rooms hold and display artefacts relating to Napoleon and his time, including a bronze cast of the Emperor's head and hand, a copy of the sarcophagus in which he is buried at Les Invalides in Paris, and the flag of the Napoleonic state of Elba, with the three golden bees: these relics were donated in 1852 by Napoleon's great-nephew Prince Anatoly Demidoff. A mass is held every year on 5 May on behalf of the Emperor's soul.
