Catafalque et Chapelle Ardente de Napoleon Retour en France by Victor Adam 1840

[BONAPARTE, Napoleon] ADAM, Victor; ARNOUT, Jean Baptiste. Catafalque et Chapelle Ardente de Napoleon dans l'Eglise des Invalides a Paris le 15 Decembre 1840. Paris, Jeannin, [1840].
 
Large folio lithograph, 510 x 355 mm. Blind-stamped. Dessine d'apres nature et lithographie par Arnout; les figures par V. Adam. Printed by Lemercier, Bernard et Cie. Scattered spotting, chiefly marginal, with handling wear and finger marks to the margins; a very good example overall.
 
A dramatic interior view of the ceremonial lying-in-state of Napoleon within the chapel of Les Invalides during the Retour des Cendres ceremonies of December 1840. The composition depicts the cortège entering the vast torchlit interior beneath draped mourning hangings, military standards, chandeliers, and the immense illuminated catafalque constructed for the imperial funeral rites.
 
Victor Adam supplied the figures while Arnout executed the architectural lithography from life. The scene formed part of the celebrated Retour en France des Depouilles Mortelles de Napoleon suite issued in Paris immediately following the ceremonies of 1840.