Francesco Hayez - The Two Foscari - WGA11217

''The Two Foscari: An Historical Tragedy'' (1821) is a verse play in five acts by

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

. The plot, set in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

in the mid-15th century, is loosely based on the true story of the downfall of

doge A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics". Etymology The ...

Francesco Foscari Francesco Foscari (19 June 1373 – 1 November 1457) was the 65th Doge of the Republic of Venice from 1423 to 1457. His reign, the longest of all Doges in Venetian history, lasted 34 years, 6 months and 8 days, and coincided with the inception o ...

and his son Jacopo. Byron's play formed the basis of

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's opera '' I due Foscari''.

Synopsis

Jacopo Foscari, son of the Doge of Venice, has twice been exiled, once for corruption and once for complicity in the murder of Donato, a member of the

Council of Ten The Council of Ten ( it, Consiglio dei Dieci; vec, Consejo de i Diexe), or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to i ...

. He has been recalled from his second exile to answer the capital charge of treason, and as the play opens he is between sessions of interrogation on the rack. The Council decide to sentence him to a third exile, this time perpetual, rather than to death. His father, doge Francesco Foscari, signs the sentence of exile, though his spirit is broken by this new disgrace. Jacopo's patriotic spirit cannot brook such a sentence, he longs to die, and he duly does die of a broken heart. The Council of Ten orders the doge to abdicate, and, as the bells begin to toll to signify the election of a new doge, the old one falls and dies.

Composition and publication

Byron wrote ''The Two Foscari'' in

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

in less than a month, between 12 June and 9 July 1821. It was published by John Murray on 19 December 1821 in the same volume as his ''

Sardanapalus Sardanapalus (; sometimes spelled Sardanapallus) was, according to the Greek writer Ctesias, the last king of Assyria, although in fact Ashur-uballit II (612–605 BC) holds that distinction. Ctesias' book ''Persica'' is lost, but we know of its ...

'' and '' Cain''. Byron originally intended to dedicate ''The Two Foscari'' to his friend Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

, but in the event he transferred that dedication to ''Cain'' and left ''Foscari'' without one. He added an appendix to ''The Two Foscari'' in which he launched a stinging attack on what he considered the hypocrisies of the

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

Robert Southey Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...

. Southey responded in a letter to a London newspaper in which he dared Byron to attack him again. Byron initially wanted to challenge Southey to a duel, but then turned instead to poetry and wrote his stinging satire '' The Vision of Judgment''.

''The Two Foscari'' in other media

Verdi's opera ''I due Foscari'', with a libretto by

Francesco Maria Piave Francesco Maria Piave (18 May 18105 March 1876) was an Italian opera librettist who was born in Murano in the lagoon of Venice, during the brief Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. Career Piave's career spanned over twenty years working with many of th ...

, was based on Byron's play. It also inspired two paintings, ''Les deux Foscari'' by

Delacroix Delacroix is a French surname that derives from ''de la Croix'' ("of the Cross"). It may refer to: People * Caroline Delacroix (1883–1945), French-Romanian mistress of Leopold II of Belgium * Charles-François Delacroix (1741–1805), ...

, and ''L'ultimo abboccamento di Jacopo Foscari con la propria famiglia prima di partire per l'esilio cui era stato condannato'' by

Francesco Hayez Francesco Hayez (; 10 February 1791 – 12 February 1882) was an Italian painter. He is considered one of the leading artists of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, and is renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories, and ...

Footnotes

External links

An edition of ''The Two Foscari'' by Peter Cochran
{{DEFAULTSORT:Two Foscari, The Plays by Lord Byron 1821 plays Venice in fiction Plays set in Italy Plays about families Plays set in the 15th century Biographical plays about politicians Tragedy plays Foscari family