98 



KNOW I.I.DCl 



Makui. I'JU. 



Hook, in 1817. aiul ;ittfSttcl by him, was repiuiliicid 

 in facsimile as one of the cliief illustiations in 



Lithograph pubU.~h 



Napoleon after death, from the tiiiished oil -pain lilt},' by 



Assistant Commissary-General Denzil Ibbetson. in 



possession of Mr. A. M. Hrnadlr\ . 



M. I'Vedcric Massoir.s 

 recently-published monu- 

 mental work on St. 

 Helena. It also appeaml 

 in my own work, "Napo- 

 leon in Caricature." 

 Much valuable informa- 

 tion concerning M i 

 Ibbetson. who retire 

 from the public service oii 

 June 15th, 1846, with thc 

 grade of Deputy Com- 

 missary - General, and 

 died at Brighton eleven 

 years later, was gi\en me 

 by Lady Ibbetson, the 

 widow of his distinguish- 

 ed grandson, the late Sir 

 Den;{il Charles Jelf 

 Ibbetson. K.C.S.I.. of the 

 Indian Civil Service. Her 

 iuisbamrs aunt. Miss Laura Ibbetson, the youngest 

 daughter of the Purveyor at Longwood, still lives, and 

 amongst other valuable relics of Napoleon owns one 

 of the oil-paintings of the dead Emperor, which Mr. 

 Ibbetson subsequently made from his original sketch 

 of May 6th, 1821. .My present concern is solelv with 

 the posthumous masks and [portraits of Napoleon, and 

 there can be no doubt but that Ibbetson enjoyed 

 special facilities for securing a good likeness. That 

 he was capable of executing a good drawing his 

 ■' Northumberland " portrait sufficientlv shows. 



The Ibbetson oil-i)ainting of the dead Napoleon 

 measured about thirty inches by twenty-five inches. 

 The one in my own collection now reproduced 

 (sec FigureOH) bears a lengthy inscription in Ibbetson's 

 handwriting. Duplicates of this picture by Ibbetson 

 are at Hampton Cotirt. and, as before stated, in 

 possession of Miss Ibbetson, and I have quite lately 

 discovered that there exists a fourth, whicli for more 

 than twenty \ears has belonged to a giutlcman 



Commissary-General Ibbetson s paintings, in which the 

 artist is erroneously described as "Captain Ibbetson, K.E." 



residing in Ldinlnirgh, and is surrounded with an 

 el.nborale frame bearing the letter N in each 

 corner. .\t the back of this particular re|)lica 

 of Ibbetson's |)f)rtrait is a note by the artist similar 

 to that on Miss Ibbetson's co|)y and on mv own 

 as follows: — " Painted by I). Ibbetson from a ski-tch 

 made by him (at St. Helena), of Napoleon, the 

 morning after his death, which took [)lace in the 

 evening of 5th May, 1821, at sunset. The features 

 had fallen away during his illness, but the fullness in 

 the throat remained. The countenance was verv 

 jilacid — the colour of the skin very yellow, and 

 there was a redness about the eyes which had the 

 appearance as if the head had been beat and 

 bruised. A picture similar to this was painted 

 by the same person at St. Helena immediately 

 after the sketch was taken, and was given hv Sir 

 Hudson Lowe, on his return to England after 

 the death of Napoleon, to King George IV. This 

 ()icture is now at Hampton Court, and it appears 

 liy a periodical work called T/w Art Union, that 

 till- performance of it is 

 erroneously attributed to 

 Madame Bertrand." The 

 owner informs me that 

 his picture measures two 

 ttet four inches b\- nine- 

 ty en ami one-eighth 

 iiu:lu-s. It is in fairlv 

 good condition. The 

 Hampton Court copv is 

 said to have been given 

 by Sir Hudson Lowe to 

 King George I\'. In 

 1S5 5 a lithograph 

 ' improved " from one or 

 'ther of the four Ibbetson 

 paintings, and now repro- 

 duced (see Figure 99), 

 was published, but the 

 artist, although still 

 li\inir. was erroneousK- 



of UlpiU\ 



.iKi: 1(11). 



Napoleon after death, published by S. and J. I"uller, 

 M, Kathboue Place, London, July Ibth. l.S^l.and described 

 as being lithi>.t;raphed from a sketch made by Captain 

 Marryit fourteen hours after death at the rc(|nest of 

 Sir Hudson Lowe, and with the permission of Count 

 Moulholon andtiener.d Herlrand. 



