The museum of the Risorgimento and the Contemporary Age of Palazzo Laderchi in Faenza, inaugurated a new display of military memorabilia from the Napoleonic Age. «After in-depth studies – he explains Aldo Ghetticurator of the exhibition – we discovered that the finds are much rarer than we imagined.”
Among the finds is a line officer’s uniform, unique in Italy
Among these, a line infantry officer’s uniform, defined by Massimo Fiorentinoexpert in the field of «one of the most important Napoleonic pieces in Italy» now once again on permanent display to the public. Restored in 2009, the uniform was put on display in 2022 then, due to a problem with the display case, it ended up in storage. «In the meantime – explains Ghetti – after a careful investigation, we have discovered how much it is rare. The characteristic of this uniform, unique in Italy – he adds – is the provenance. Usually it is the uniforms of the most important people that are saved, whereas this one undoubtedly belonged to a simple man line officer. Let’s remember who he fought for Napoleon was considered a revolutionary and only the powerful could freely assert their ideas without taking risks. Then there is a second reason – specifies Ghetti – these uniforms hardly reach the present day, because they come from the lowest strata of the population and, as such, reused until the end. The trousers, especially, are nowhere to be found. Even jackets and coats were obtained from jackets: at the time nothing was thrown away.” Even the vicissitudes related to this split they are curious. «She ended up among the stage clothes from the collection municipal theatre– Ghetti says again -. Someone had kept it, almost certainly secretly, because it was a symbol of the revolution, and then given it to Masini. It is very likely that it was a person from Faenza who wore it and kept it.”
A living room tablecloth with the exhumation of Napoleon’s body
In the decades following the Napoleonic occupation, many nostalgics have kept, often secretly, memorabilia of the time. Like the Faenza family Gheba Ruldier who donated to the Faenza museum not only a family portrait, still on display, but also a very original one ‘living room tablecloth’ which shows the printed scene, created in a famous engraving, of the moment ofexhumation of the body of Napoleon from the island of St. Helena. The body was then transferred to Paris In the 1841, where he currently rests at the Invalides. The tablecloth «is an almost industrial product, because it is made with nine stripes of printed cotton. When we had it analyzed by Massimo Fiorentino – says Ghetti – it amazement he was great. We imagine that several were produced at the time, but they were all lost. It seems incredible, but they ate us on this tablecloth.”
The belt buckle of the Royal Gendarmerie of the Lamone Department
Among the relics once again on display, there is a precious one buckle from the belt of the Royal Gendarmerie of Department of Lamone (1797-1815), which takes us directly back to the period in which Faenza became the capital of the Department created following the occupation of Romagna by the Napoleonic army.
Napoleon’s funeral mask and three unpublished paintings
For lovers of the genre, the Napoleon’s funeral mask, exhibited for the first time in 2022 and which has now found a definitive location. It’s about the plaster copy of the bronze original still preserved today Musée de l’Armée of Paris, created by Francesco Antommarchi, Napoleon’s personal doctor from the date of exile on Saint Helena (1819), until his death. The 5 May 1821 the Corsican doctor witnessed the death of the emperor, performed the autopsy and created the death mask which can be admired in the museum of Palazzo Laderchi. To these findings are added three unpublished paintings with a Napoleonic theme recently donated to the Museum and which «attest to the attention of the citizens who, with their donations allowed the creation of the collection since the end of the 19th century», concludes the curator of the exhibition. The paintings reproduce theexhumation of Napoleon’s corpse, theI arrive in Paris of the coffin on the ship on the Seine, as well as a portrait of the emperor.
It will be possible to visit the Risorgimento Museum, a Free admissionall the Sundays hey holidays from 10am to 12pm and from 3pm to 7pm.
Barbara Fichera
