San Martino Villa and Demidoff Gallery

The Villa in San Martino, Napoleon's summer residence, is in the heart of the countryside, about 5 km from Portoferraio.The magnificent neoclassic architecture of the building is the work of Count Anatolio Demidoff, husband of Napoleon's neice Matilde di Monfort, who, in 1851, decided to build a place worthy of Imperial pomps where he could keep his collection of Napoleonic antiques,

The Demidoff Gallery is at the foot of the original building, and here you can admire the statue of the original Galatea, that seemingly Paolina Borghese posed for, done by Canova, and originally meant to enhance the beauty of the gardens in the Palazzina dei Mulini.

The original Napoleonic residence is above the Demidoff Gallery. The very moderate architecture of the outside of the building is in contrast to that of the inside, over two floors of rooms and halls, designed by the architect Bargigli, while the frescos were done by Vincenzo Antonio Revelli, from Turin.

On the second floor, well worth visiting, is the Egyptian room, where an octagonal tank has papyrus plants, withtrompe l'oeil on the walls representing the Egyptian country side, and the lovers' knot room, meant to be a dining room, where the fresco on the ceiling of two doves in flight holding the lovers' knot symbolizes the the love between Napoleon and Maria Luisa.