The Château de Malmaison has recently acquired a watercolour painting of St Helena, produced by Denzil Ibbetson, a British commissary who accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte on his journey to St Helena on board The Northumberland. An accomplished painter, Ibbetson produced a number of sketches and drawings during his time on the island, including a depiction of Napoleon on his deathbed, and numerous views of St Helena. This painting, which covers four pages, is previously unseen and offers a fascinating view of Longwood and in particular the “Generals' wing”. The painting allows us to trace the development of the apartments used by Gourgaud and Montholon, demolished in 1860 and rebuilt (inexactly) in 1935. Using the turf wall depicted in the painting, which was installed in 1820 and removed in 1822, it is also possible to offer a relatively precise date of execution. This wall was erected to offer Napoleon some privacy from the round-the-clock surveillance on the island, and, as the painting makes clear, included a hole for the emperor's telescope, an aspect of Napoleon's exile of which historians were previously unaware.
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