Close-ups
Framed and on the wall
Frame and rooms are illustrations of how the piece could look; it is sold unframed unless the description says otherwise.
Tomb of Napoleon, Les Invalides, Paris, Antique Lithograph, circa 1861
$370
€330 · £275
Original print, not a reproduction.
Ships worldwide from the Netherlands, flat or rolled, insured and tracked. 14-day returns.
- Date
- circa 1861
- Sheet size
- 10.6 × 14.2 in (27 × 36 cm)
- Technique
- Tinted lithograph
- Coloring
- Tinted
- Condition
- Good. Light age toning; light handling soiling along the edges and a few small spots in the margins. Small light flecks in the image, otherwise clean.
- Collection
- Uniforms & regiments
- Era
- 1816 to 1899, Empire and industry
- Stock no.
- BG-13194-101
What the condition grades mean
- Excellent
- Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
- Very good
- Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
- Good
- Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
- Fair
- Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
A tinted lithograph of the tomb of Napoleon in the crypt beneath the dome of Les Invalides in Paris. The viewer looks through a wide arch between massive square piers into the open circular crypt, where the great sarcophagus stands on its plinth, its lid rolled at the ends. Colossal draped figures stand against the piers, bronze lamps hang on chains from the coffered ceiling, and the floor is laid with bold concentric circles of colored marble. Above the sarcophagus, the balustrade of the upper church can be seen, with visitors looking down.
Visitors animate the scene: a family with a small boy at left, several officers in uniform and cloaks at right, and a single figure walking past a relief panel at far left.
Napoleon's remains were brought back to Paris from St. Helena in 1840, and the tomb designed by Louis Visconti was completed in 1861, when the body was placed in the sarcophagus. The sheet is lettered "TOMBEAU DE L'EMPEREUR AUX INVALIDES, Interieur de la Crypte" and numbered 36 in the series "Paris et ses Environs." It was drawn and lithographed by A. Provost, printed by Auguste Bry at 114 rue du Bac, and published by Gihaut Frères, Boulevard des Italiens.
The technique is lithography printed with a second, cream tint stone, with highlights left in the white of the paper, so the marble piers and statues seem to glow against the warmer tint. A ruled frame surrounds the image, with the series title above and the lettering below.
For an admirer of Napoleon or of French history, this is an evocative piece; it would look superb in a gilt frame in a study, a library or a formal sitting room.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.
