Villa of San Martin

Shortly after his arrival on the island, Napoleon bought some properties belonging to the Manganaro family, a few kilometres from Palazzina dei Mulini, including a rustic country house with the intention of transforming it into a comfortable and refined residence which would lack for nothing, in terms of comfort and finish, in comparison to Parisian residences. Work proceeded quickly and included the extension of the building, the renovation of the façade, with the creation of an airy roof garden overlooking the Portoferraio harbour, and the decoration of the interior, entrusted to Antonio Vincenzo Revelli from Piedmont. Following the hasty flight from Elba and the well-known epilogue of the Napoleonic affair, Villa San Martino passed into the hands of the emperor’s heirs until, in 1856, it was purchased by the Russian nobleman Anatolio Demidoff, a great art collector and above all a strong admirer of Napoleon’s exploits.

Demidoff not only restored the villa, but also planned to build a large museum to house the numerous Napoleonic relics he had collected and commissioned the construction of a gallery that still bears his name.

The rich collection of prints in the Museum is the result of the fusion of two distinct nuclei: the Turini-De Micheli collection, acquired by the State in 1985, and the Olschki collection, donated to the nation by Aldo, the son of Leo Samuele Olschki, founder of the prestigious publishing house.

The first nucleus, assembled in Rome by Guglielmo Turini, consists of 230 engravings of Napoleonic history and 12 plates decorated with images of Napoleonic iconography, and includes engravings, lithographs and etchings. There are numerous portraits of Napoleon, as general and emperor, and of his family members, in particular his beautiful wife Josephine; there are also some unusual scenes from private life in which the great politician is caught playing with his son. There are numerous portraits of the officers of the Grande Armée and of the main battles, but there are also many anecdotal and satirical images, from the countries of the anti-Napoleonic coalition, in which the general is harshly attacked and mocked.