May 5, 2021, marked the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon, who breathed his last on the remote British-held island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
To mark the bicentenary, Grosvenor Prints, London specialist in antique prints from the 17th-early 20th centuries, has dedicated its latest catalogue to Napoleonic items.
Broadsides, posters, and of course prints, including satirical works, portraits of Napoleon and battle scenes, are among the 420 items for sale.
French feast
Priced at £360, this coloured British satirical cartoon etching shown here depicts Napoleon on a spit rotated by a Westphalian bear, while the Russian General Levin August von Bennigsen (a German) bastes him with a ladle.
Captioned Polish Diet with French Desert, it was created by William Elmes (active 1804-16) after the Russian defeat of Joachim Murat’s French at the Battle of Tarutino on October 18, 1812 and the French retreat from Moscow.
