Gudin (after) "Debarquement à l'Ile de Malte." [Bonaparte landing on Malta]

After Gudin. "Debarquement à l'Ile de Malte." [Bonaparte landing on Malta]

Paris: ca. 1830. 12 1/4 x 17 3/4 (image). Lithograph by C. Motte. Very good condition. 

A dramatic lithograph showing Napoleon landing on Malta in 1798. The island of Malta was an important strategic stronghold in the Mediterranean Sea and Napoleon knew that controlling it would help French fleet, both in the region and his desire to conquer Egypt and India. He captured the island but the Maltese revolted and remaining French forces were forced to surrender when the British intervened. Thus began the start of a century and half of British rule of the island.