CAST BY FERDINAND BARBEDIENNE FROM A MODEL BY VINCENZO VELA, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Vela's original life-size marble version of The Last Days of Napoleon was exhibited at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris and immediately acquired for the State by Napoleon III. It is now located in the Musée national des châteaux de Malmaison et de Bois Préau outside Paris. A second marble version is in the collection of the Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C. The model was subsequently edited in varying sizes by Barbedienne.