Statue of Napoleon Bonaparte - Statua di Nabuliòne Buonaparte

All. Général Fieschi Bastia Haute-Corse

Napoleon: The Statue of Napoleon I

The centerpiece of the square is the statue of Napoleon I, dressed in the garb of a Roman emperor, accompanied by a pedestal adorned with a delicate neoclassical bas-relief depicting a Victory. This monumental work was commissioned from the Florentine sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini by Napoleon’s sister, Elisa Baciocchi. Originally intended to decorate the inner courtyard of her palace in Lucca, the fall of the Empire left the statue abandoned in the artist’s workshop. In 1849, a year before his death, Bartolini offered to sell it to the city of Bastia. The agreement was finalized with his heirs in 1852, and the statue was officially unveiled two years later. It is worth noting that Lorenzo Bartolini (1777–1850) had been appointed professor of sculpture at the Carrara Academy in 1807 by Elisa Baciocchi. The sculptor also created busts of Elisa, her husband Félix Baciocchi, and their daughter Napoléone Baciocchi, which are displayed at the Napoleonic Museum in Ajaccio’s Town Hall.