Place de Monterrey, Mexique

Chapman arrived in Monterrey at the end of June 1865. The son of the painter John Gadsby Chapman, he had enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861 and served with the 59th Regiment, Virginia Infantry. He left the war-torn South for Rome in 1864, and after returning to Virginia shortly after Lee's surrender, sought refuge in Mexico. He stayed in Mexico for 18 months, and returned later in his career, in 1883, adding a large body of Mexican work to his paintings recording the sites of the Civil War, notably the Confederate Army's defence of Charleston harbour, and his European scenery.

The present picture is a back view of the Municipal Palace of Monterrey from the Plaza Hidalgo that was formerly known as Plaza del Comercio.