The Villa Palazzina dei Mulini in Portoferraio, the capital of Elba, was Napoleon Bonaparte's main residence when he stayed on the island between May 1814 and February 1815. It is now a museum where, among the memorabilia and furnishings of the period, one can spot an oil painting depicting the death of Prince Józef Poniatowski. The painting accentuates the Polish links with the Napoleonic epic and recalls the presence of Poles on Elba, who, as "the most faithful of the faithful", came here in the Emperor's aide-de-camp.

Napoleon Bonaparte on Elba

Elba (Italian: Isola d'Elba) is the third largest Italian island. It is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea, between the Apennine Peninsula and Corsica (Bonaparte's home island), 20 km off the coast. The short period from 3 May 1814 to 26 February 1815, when it was ruled by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), who was exiled here after his forced abdication, plays a special role in Elba's complex and rich history. The supposedly independent principality of Elba was supposed to provide him with occupation and sustenance, in return for giving up his rule of France and any political ambitions. The flight from Elba marked the beginning of Napoleon's '100 days', an attempt to regain power in France, which - after initial successes - ended on 22 June 1815 with Napoleon's repeated abdication, after losing the Battle of Waterloo, and exile to the island of St Helena, where, under British supervision, he died in 1821.

On Elba, Napoleon resided in the island's capital, Portoferraio, and in a summer residence in San Martino. In the house in Portoferraio, now turned into a museum, we find a Polish accent in the form of a painting depicting the death of Prince Józef Poniatowski.

Polish motifs on Elba

The painting with the image of Prince Jozef reminds us of the Polish participation in the Napoleonic epic, the hopes and disappointments associated with it. On Elba, it should additionally evoke memories of the Polish Cheval Legers of the Imperial Guard, whose squadron voluntarily joined the Emperor's aide-de-camp in exile.

The core of the military assistance consisted of a French Guards grenadier battalion of about 600 soldiers. The Poles on Elba were to number about 100, staying under the command of Major Pawel Jerzmanowski (1779-1862). The so-called Elba squadron earned the nickname 'the most faithful of the faithful'. After leaving the island, it participated in all the events of Napoleon's 100 days. After the final defeat of the Emperor, the cavalrymen left the French army and mostly ended up in the country, in the Kingdom of Poland under Russian rule. Today, it is difficult to find their traces and memory on the Italian island. This is all the more reason why the image from the villa called Palazzina dei Mulini acts as a catalyst for memories.

Palazzina dei Mulini

Napoleon's main residence on Elba is a small building with a garden, located on the edge of the island's capital, the town of Portoferraio. The building's hilltop location provides a distant view of the sea bay that leads to the port of Portoferraio. In the wider panorama, however, the building is dominated by the fortress guarding the town, which also seemed to have a guard over the Napoleonic residence.

The building, of undistinguished architecture, was built in 1724 and was part of the island's complex of military buildings. After Napoleon's arrival on Elba, it was transformed and connected to the garden facing the high seashore. The adaptation work was led by the architect Paolo Bargigli (1760-after 1815). The interior decoration was done by Antonio Vincenzo Revelliegni (1764-1835), the official painter of the Elba court.

After Napoleon's flight, the building went through various vicissitudes to gain a museum function in 1934. Today it is the Museo Nazionale delle Residenze Napoleoniche dell'isola d'Elba - Palazzina dei Mulini. Over time, the furnishings of the Bonaparte-era house have been recreated in the museum. The basis of the collection is the library donated to the city by Napoleon. A painting with an image of Prince Joseph was hung in the dining room opposite a copy of J.L. David's painting depicting Napoleon crossing the Alps. It is like a juxtaposition of two accents of the Napoleonic drama - the beginning of the victorious expedition to Italy (1796) and the end of hope in the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig (1813).

The painting "Death of Prince Józef Poniatowski"

This is an oil painting on canvas. It was created around the mid-19th century as a copy made by an undetermined painter according to a painting by the French battle painter, Horace Vernet (1789-1863), painted in 1816. As an aside, it may be added that Vernet, as director of the French Academy of Art in Rome, trained many Polish artists, including January Suchodolski and Józef Brodowski, and was the godfather of Wojciech Kossak, perhaps the most famous of Polish battle painters.

Vernet's paintings, which in two versions depicted the death of the Polish hero at the Battle of Leipzig, helped to cement the prince's legend and were copied in large numbers in the 19th century. No wonder, after all Poniatowski's heroism at the Battle of Leipzig, his appointment by Napoleon as Marshal of France and his death while covering the retreat of the defeated French army were dramatic fodder for a legend summarising the Poles' participation in the Napoleonic epic. "The Battle of the Nations" at Leipzig, fought on 16-19 October 1813, was decisive in the sequence of events leading to Napoleon's downfall, weakened earlier by the failure of the expedition to Russia. In it, Prince Józef Poniatowski acted as one of the commanders and commander-in-chief of the troops of the Duchy of Warsaw. At the same time, he embodied all hopes for Poland's independence that were associated with Napoleon. The defeat at Leipzig dashed them, and the Duke's death in the currents of the Elster symbolically sealed them.

Interestingly, Prince Joseph's death found a place not only in the Polish pantheon of national heroism, but also in the European iconography of the Napoleonic wars. In the spirit of Romanticism, Poniatowski was presented as one who devoted his entire life to his homeland and remained faithful to soldierly honour to the end.

The significance of

The placement of the painting among Napoleonic memorabilia in the place where the emperor stayed during the declining period of his imperial career has a number of meanings. Although it did not adorn the interior during Napoleon's stay in Portoferraio (the original painting was created in 1816), it is undoubtedly linked to the history of the era. From a European perspective, it recalls the battle that sealed Bonaparte's fate and ultimately led to his stay on Elba.

From the Polish perspective, it is a visible sign of the presence of our compatriots in Napoleon's army and history, and a symbol of the sacrifices made in the name of the hope of defeating the invaders at the side of the French and winning independence this way. All that is contained in the national anthem in the words "He gave us the example of Bonaparte, how we should win...". At the same time, it is the quintessence of the Romantic national legend and the message that if one cannot win, one must at least save one's honour for the glory of one's own name and for future generations....