Paintings, arms, furniture and numerous objects that belonged to the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte form part of the Napoleonic Museum's surprising collection, assiduously acquired over the years at multimillion dollar European art auctions by the wealthy Oreste Ferrera and, since 1960, part of the heritage of the Cuban people.

It is housed in the former Ferrera mansion with an impressive Florentine Renaissance structure, located alongside the National University of Cuba's campus.

The exhibits are organized chronologically around the political and military events in Napoleon's life, emperor of France, 1804-1815.

Two of the museum's most impressive paintings are Return from Elba and The Battle of Waterloo. The latter dramatically depicting a scene from one of the history's most famous defeats.

Another treasure is Jean Baptiste Rehnault's monumental Bonaparte on the Bois de Boulogne, on exhibit in the First Empire Room, along with arms and carved ebony furniture representative of the period.

Other popular objects are Napoleon's pistol and the hat he wore on St. Helen, but the favorite piece is undoubtedly the exiled leader's death mask, brought to Cuba by Dr. Francesco Antommarchi, who attended him to the end of his days.