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Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte, embroidered picture by Mary Linwood, England, 1825. Napoleon Bonaparte, embroidered picture by Mary Linwood, England, 1825. Copyright Victoria & Albert Museum, London, acc. no. 1438-1874.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses an embroidered picture of Napoleon Bonaparte, which was made by Mary Linwood (1755-1845) in 1825. The technique she used was needlepainting, whereby oil paintings and other representations were exactly copied with hand embroidery, against a painted background. The embroidery measures 78.3 x 71.2 cm and was carried out in crewel wool on a wool ground.

Mary Linwood was the most popular practitioner of needlepainting in England, and in fact she did meet Napoleon in 1803. Her embroidered picture is based on sketches she made at the time. In the same year Linwood received the Freedom of Paris.

This portrait of Napoleon was displayed in Mary Linwood's Leicester Square Gallery as number 52, in the 'Gothic Room'.

V&A online catalogue (retrieved 6 November 2016).

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Last modified on Sunday, 06 November 2016 19:11