Object Image

War. The Exile and the Rock Limpet

This scene shows French military leader Napoleon in exile on the island of St Helena. He had been sent there after being defeated by a British-led army in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon died in St Helena in 1821. This work was painted in the year his ashes were returned to France. The image does not appear to celebrate or condemn Napoleon, but instead suggests the pointlessness of war. The isolated uniformed body appears out of place in its surroundings. The red background invokes the trauma of battle. In verses attached to the canvas, Turner refers to the sunset as a 'sea of blood'.

Credit: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856...

exhibited 1842
Oil paint on canvas
794.0 x 794.0mm
N00529
Image and text © Tate Britain, 2022

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Tate Britain
Permanent collection