The plaster piece was made by Dr. Francois Antommarchi, the emperor's personal doctor, who brought it to Cuba, where he came looking for distant relatives after Napoleon's death in Santa Elena in 1821.

According to historians, Antommarchi stayed in Havana, Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba and allegedly in Cárdenas, where he sold his precious treasure to a collector for the city's Museum and Public Library.

Experts said that there are two other death masks of Napoleon, who ruled France from 1799 to 1814 and went down in history as one of the men who exerted a transcendental influence in his time.

One of the death masks is in France and the other one is on display at Havana's Napoleonic Museum. However, the one being exhibited in Cárdenas is one of the most valuable pieces housed in Cuba's second oldest museum.

By: Dtcuba