These drawings relate to two of Orchardson's best known paintings, 'Napoleon on board the HMS Bellerophon' (1880) and 'St. Helena, 1816. Napoleon dictating to Count Las Cases his account of his campaigns' (1892).

According to the artist's daughter, Hilda Orchardson Gray, her father 'admired the Great Napoleon immensely, not, I suppose, for his morals, but for his power'. In her biography of Orchardson, she wrote that he 'admired strength in any form, but particularly strength of character...There were many dramatic moments in Napoleon's life, but surely the most dramatic of them all was in the terrible farewell to France and ambition when he stood a stern figure, alone and sad, with the whispering gossip of faithful friends and followers behind and apart from him'.

When preparing his first painting of Napoleon, Orchardson toyed with getting help from other artists. He hired a 'perspective man' for the ship's deck and a painter to depict the complex rigging, but found their efforts were unsatisfactory and eventually painted the whole scene himself. According to Orchardson's daughter, the model for Napoleon was a woman named Mrs Wingfield who bore a striking resemblance to the French leader.

The Art Annual of 1897 focused on Orchardson's life and work, with two sections on the Napoleon paintings. The author of the article, J.S. Little, wrote that: 'Mr Orchardson's picture shows us Napoleon taking his last look at the country he loved, not wisely, but too well. The great spirit within him rises in mute rebellion at his fate...But the dignity of the man is not obliterated. There he stands, his marshals at a respectful distance watching him...The picture is a grand epic...The story is told with superb simplicity...Mr. Orchardson allowed twelve years to elapse before he returned to the Napoleonic tradition...To my mind 'Napoleon dictating his Memoirs to his Secretary, the Count Las Cases' shows an advance on the picture we have just considered. The canvas contains two figures only: Napoleon standing in front of his maps and charts outspread on the floor, turns toward his amaneunsis, who, alert, awaits his pleasure. Of course, Napoleon in this picture is no longer the heroic mortal he was in the earlier work, but his personality is still full of interest'.

All objects in this group