At the insistance of Fanny Bertrand, who wanted to be able to remember the features of the Emperor and give them to his mother Madame Mère, the British physician Burton, having found gypsum on the island, was able to take a death mask of the Emperor in several sections, at 4pm on 7 May. He was asssisted by the anatomist, Francesco Antommarchi (1789-1838), who had been sent to St Helena in 1819 as a doctor, by Madame Mère. During the night, while the impression was drying, the French party removed the central part (the eyes, nose, mouth) and Bertrand and Antommarchi later took it back to London where several copies were made using fine plaster of Paris, including this one.
This one was given to Madame Bertrand, in London. Inside there is an inscriptionin Italian “A l’imperagiabile merito di Madame Bertrand, Antommarchi, 27 agosto 1821″ [To the invaluable merit of Madame Bertrand, Antommarchi, 27 August 1821”].
Numerous copies of Napoleon’s death mask are in existance today. See our article the affair of Napoleon’s death masks by Chantal Prevot to understand more about them.