This painting was produced soon after the Emperor Napoleon died on the island of St Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean, in 1821. There was a cult surrounding Napoleon and, rather than simply being regarded as a leader, many thought of him in almost religious terms as a god among men. This painting is intended to add to this view through its dramatic and exaggerated depiction of the event.

Napoleon's grave was actually by a narrow stream, but Vernet places it next to a roaring sea. In the water the wreckage of a ship is battered by the waves and you can just make out an inscription which lists the names of Napoleon's most important battles. Two generals and their families hug each other hysterically while armies and his dead marshalls gather in mourning on the clouds in the background.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) became Emperor of the French in 1804, after centuries of monarchic rule and following a Revolution when King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette were deposed and guillotined. Napoleon was born in Corsica to parents of modest means, making it all the more astonishing that he came to rule France. When he was Emperor his armies marched from Madrid to Moscow before finally being defeated in 1815 by Wellington and Blücher at the Battle of Waterloo. There was great fascination for Napoleon throughout Europe both during his lifetime and after. Many English collectors, like the Wallace Collection's 4th Marquess of Hertford, bought works celebrating his life.