The camp-bed in which Napoleon died

Period : St Helena
Artist(s) : DESOUCHES
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The camp-bed in which Napoleon died
Installation of Napoleon's campbed at the exhibition "Napoléon n'est plus",
with his Chasseur Colonel Uniform and bicorne hat
Coll. Musée de l'Armée, 2021, photo: Fondation Napoléon / Rebecca Young

Napoleon took two of his favourite campbeds (created by Marie-Jean Desouches) with him into exile on St Helena. This one (known as the “lit Murat”, and given to the Musée de l’Armée in 1973) is that in which he died, at 5.49pm on 5 May 1821, in the drawing room* of Longwood House. The other St Helena campbed (now at the Chateau de Malmaison) is where his body was presented from 4pm on 6 May, dressed, in his Chasseur Colonel uniform, in the makeshift Chapel of Rest, in his former study*.

*See our plan and description of Longwood House at the time of Napoleon’s death.

Date :
1800
Technique :
steel, brass, cotton, canvas.
Place held :
Musée de l'Armée
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