Napeoleon's 'death mask' could be his butler's

breitbart.com ^ | 8/18/2007

[bruinbirdman]

The purported death mask of Napoleon on show in a Paris museum is not that of the emperor, a historian alleged Saturday, with some reports suggesting it is really that of his butler. Bruno Rey-Henry said the real death mask had been auctioned in 2004 to an unidentified individual after being on display in London's Royal United Services Institute museum for some 25 years.

Rey-Henry said the mask in Paris's military museum, close to Napoleon's tomb in the Invalides, does not display a scar on the left cheek which figures in a portrait of the emperor after his surrender in 1815 by British artist Charles Lock Eastlake.

The scar was on the mask formerly in the London museum, he said, adding that the French example also did not match up to Napoleon's known appearance, with a big head and powerful jaw.

The French daily Liberation said Saturday the Paris mask could be that of Napoleon's butler, Cipriani Franceschi, whose body conspiracy theorists claim was the one brought back to France for burial in the Invalides in 1840.

The conspiracy theorists allege the emperor was poisoned during his exile on the British island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821, and that Franceschi's body was substituted to cover up the deed.

Rey-Henry told AFP, "It would be better if the false mask which is portrayed ... as being the face of the emperor on his death-bed were removed from public view."

The French defence ministry, which is responsible for the Paris military museum, refused to comment Saturday.

[Cincinna]

Is this one of those “who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb” questions?

[wideminded]

While visiting the library at a Lutheran seminary in Minneapolis we were asked if we would like to see a death mask of Martin Luther. The death mask was in a display case and appeared to be from sickly looking old man.

I found this very interesting and did some research on the Internet. Apparently there are some other death masks of Luther. The most well-known one is on display at Halle in Germany. Pictures of this mask can be seen online and depict a man with very strong features, much more believable as Luther, and not at all matching the death mask we saw at the seminary.

I haven't contacted the seminary library with my questions about this but either they have the wrong death mask or they're keeping the real one in a safer place.

[The Great RJ]

Maybe Elvis secretly bought Napoleon’s death mask.

[SolidWood]

Interesting collection of death masks of famous persons:
http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/C0770/nameslist.html

[murron]

Maybe I’m mistaken, but wasn’t Napoleon’s death mask at the Cabildo in New Orleans? Or was that a replica?

[Alouette]

The death mask was in a display case and appeared to be from sickly looking old man.

Since the "death mask" is made by taking a cast of the deceased person's face, this is more likely to be the real deal, not a sculpture showing a face strong and vibrant.

[Shooter 2.5]

Apparently there are some other death masks of Luther.

Some death masks? How many? Did it occur to you that it takes awhile for plaster to dry? One mask could have been made the day the man died and the last could have been made days later. The first one could have been of a healthy looking person and the last could have looked like a guy who has been dead for three days.

[wideminded]

The death mask was in a display case and appeared to be from sickly looking old man.

Since the "death mask" is made by taking a cast of the deceased person's face, this is more likely to be the real deal, not a sculpture showing a face strong and vibrant.

The bone structure of the face does not change after death. We know what Martin Luther looked like because there were many portraits of him made while he was living. The death mask that I saw in Minneapolis did not look like any of his portraits or any of the images shown below.

Apparently there are some other death masks of Luther.

Some death masks? How many? Did it occur to you that it takes awhile for plaster to dry? One mask could have been made the day the man died and the last could have been made days later. The first one could have been of a healthy looking person and the last could have looked like a guy who has been dead for three days.

Luther died on February 18th, 1546. It is known that the artist Lukas Furtenagel made the casting for Luther's death mask before Luther's body was moved the next day.

Obviously a plaster cast of the face is a negative image and so every death mask on display is a best a cast of a cast. Copies can be made from the original mold or from a resulting positive image. As shown below there are multiple Luther death masks on display which include casts of his hands. They all seem to be copies of one original.

In places where Luther's death mask is a tourist attraction, they seem to be a little vague as to the provenance of the copy they possess. As far as I can tell, the original positive image is in Halle, but may have been altered over time when it was used as part of a life size statue of Luther. Apparently Halle also has a later copy made from the original negative mold. - link

Luther death mask at the Market Church in Halle:

Luther death mask at the Luther Death House in Eisleben:

Luther death mask on exhibit in Baltimore:

Portrait of Martin Luther:

Closeup of Luther death mask:

[Shooter 2.5]

Thanks for the information. I didn’t know they would have risked the original to make copies.

[bruinbirdman]

"either they have the wrong death mask or they're keeping the real one in a safer place."

Have you researched "life mask"? Lincoln had three of those, IIRC.

yitbos

[SunkenCiv]

From the 19th.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[Rembrandt]

If the death mask looks like Helen Thomas, it’s still around and probably will be for the next 300 years unless someone throws water on it and Hillary at the same time and they both melt.