8 May 2022 - Not horsehair but three locks of the imperial mane
On Saturday 7 May 2022, at 11.00 a.m., the conference room of the State Archive of Milan will host a conference that illustrates the results of the DNA tests carried out on three locks of hair belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte preserved among the archives of the Milanese institution.
The meeting, entitled Not horsehair but three locks of the imperial mane, will be held as part of the closing event of the exhibition “Uprisings and wars. The Milanese archives during the Napoleonic era” which celebrates the bicentenary of the death of the French emperor.
The morning will begin with an introduction by Benedetto Luigi Compagnoni, director of the State Archive of Milan, and include talks by Carmela Santoro, deputy director of the Archive, who will illustrate the historical and archivistic aspects of the exhibition, and Elena Pilli, Forensic Anthropology lecturer from the Department of Biology at the University of Florence, who performed the tests on the hair to scientifically prove that it belonged to Napoleon.
Beginning with a reconstruction of Napoleon Bonaparte’s family tree, the forensic anthropologist will explain how it was possible to achieve these remarkable results. The three locks of Napoleon’s hair were confiscated in 1817 from Natale Santini, a valet of Bonaparte’s who had arrived in Italy with this singular “memento”. The conference will conclude with a guided tour of the exhibition, which must be booked in advance.
Curated by Maria Pia Bortolotti, Marco Lanzini and Carmela Santoro, the exhibition presents a series of documents, papers and parchments of great symbolic significance, as well as finely decorated letterheads, seals, monument projects, prints and many other rare pieces, preserved in the State Archive of Milan. The conference is free and open to the general public subject to capacity and visitors must wear an FFP2 facemask. Meanwhile, the guided tour at 12 p.m. must be booked in advance at the following address:
It is also possible to attend the conference online on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of the State Archive of Milan.
Last updated: 24/05/2024
