It was Fesch's desire to found an Intsitute of Arts and Sciences in his native town, and to that end he bequeathed to Ajaccio a thousand paintings from his extraordinary collection which at his death numbered more than 17, works of art, of which 16, were paintings. Of this remarkable private collection dedicated largely to Italian painting β indeed one of the largest ever to exist β all that remains today are the paintings on show in the museum.
The Cardinal himself sold some of the works, and his sole heir Joseph Bonaparte did the same, with the result that the collection no longer contains some of the Giottos, Mantegnas, Raphaels or Rembrandts that it once did. In , work was interupted by the Bourbon government which considered this architectural opulence displayed by an exile as provocative.
Begun again in , building work was completed in under the direction of the Corsican architect Frassato. The building comprises a corps-de-logis with wings enclosing a square courtyard. Fesch himself, who died in Rome in , was never to see the completed work. After being used for several different purposes, Palais Fesch was significantly restored in so that, in accordance with the Cardinal's last will and testament, his collection should finally be diplayed in all its glory.
In France, it has the largest and most important collection of Italian painting outside the Louvre. And in addition to interesting works by Flemish, Dutch, German, French and Spanish schools, there is a large Napoleonic section dedicated to the founder and his family. First on entering, the visitor is faced in the courtyard by a statue of Cardinal Fesch by the Second Empire sculptor Vital Dubray see inset. But the visit proper begins with Horace Vernet's Bataille de l'Alma, followed closely by portraits of the imperial family.
There are in addition glass cases which present to the viewer various different sorts of Napoleonic memorabilia ranging from coarse pottery and pipes in the shape of Napoleon to occasionally remarkable individual statues and groups of statuettes notably Bonaparte on a dromedary in Egypt, Napoleon in his coffin on St Helena, etc. And on the central table, there are some coins, medals and the sword belonging to Charles Bonaparte. There is also an impressive model of the ship which brought Napoleon's body back from St Helena, the Belle Poule.
