Saint Helena

portrait of Napoleon by HaydonSt. Helena, an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, is where Napoleon Bonaparte was imprisoned in exile after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, which ended the Napoleonic Wars of 1803-1815.  Napoleon died on the island six years later at the age of 51.  Image:  Benjamin Robert Haydon, Napoleon Musing at St Helena.  This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less.

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Romanticism: A Class Map

Coordinates

Latitude: -15.965010400000
Longitude: -5.708924100000

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Timeline of Events Associated with Saint Helena

Date Event Manage

Benjamin Robert Haydon, Napoléon Bonaparte (based on a version of 1830)
1829

Benjamin Robert Haydon paints portrait of Napoleon at sunset

in 1829, Benjamin Robert Haydon painted a first version of Napoleon Musing after Sunset, which was exhibited at the Western Exchange in 1830.  Haydon later painted 23 versions and replics of this work, including the one pictured here.  The later full-length version was titled Napoleon Musing at St. Helena.  In 1831, William Wordsworth wrote of this painting, "If I can command my thoughts I will write something about your Picture, in prose for the Muse has forsaken me - being scared away by the villainous aspect of the Times."  Image:  Benjamin Robert Haydon, Napoleon Musing at St Helena.  This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less.

 Haydon portrait of Napoleon Benjamin Robert Haydon, Napoleon Musing at St Helena
Jun 1831 to 1831

Wordsworth composes "To B.R. Haydon, on Seeing His Picture of Napoleon"

Haydon portrait of NapoleonOn 11 June 1831, William Wordsworth composed the sonnet, "To B.R. Haydon, on Seeing His Picture of Napoleon Buonaparte on the Island of St. Helena," in response to Benjamin Robert Haydon's portrait of Napoleon, pictured here. Image:  Benjamin Robert Haydon, Napoleon Musing at St Helena.  This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less.  Here is the sonnet:

HAYDON! let worthier judges praise the skill
Here by thy pencil shown in truth of lines
And charm of colours; I applaud those signs
Of thought, that give the true poetic thrill;
That unencumbered whole of blank and still,
Sky without cloud—ocean without a wave;
And the one Man that laboured to enslave
The World, sole-standing high on the bare hill—
Back turned, arms folded, the unapparent face
Tinged, we may fancy, in this dreary place
With light reflected from the invisible sun
Set, like his fortunes; but not set for aye
Like them. The unguilty Power pursues his way,
And before him doth dawn perpetual run.