The Accademia degli Euteleti, or rather the “men of good will” who intend to spread culture in the world through study and science, has its headquarters in the sixteenth century Palazzo Migliorati which has a rich archive and library where Napoleon Bonaparte’s Funeral Mask is kept.
Why Napoleon in San Miniato? In July 1796, while he was engaged in the conquest of Livorno, Napoleon moved to San Miniato to visit his uncle, the canon Filippo Bonaparte. The meeting should have taken place at La Scala, a place of rest and change of horses, but because of the precarious health of the elderly uncle, Napoleon had to go up to San Miniato and spend the night at his home, continuing the next day to Florence.
There is also talk of a visit of the young Napoleon already in 1778, when together with his father he would have come in search of the documentation attesting to the noble origins of the family, necessary to be admitted to the prestigious French military college of Brienne.
The Academy of the Euteleti is part of the Museum System of San Miniato.
Opening times
Saturday and Sunday 4.00-7.00 pm
Other days only on reservation
Free admittance