Study of Jacopo Brought before His Father, the Doge, for "The Two Foscari"

Eugène Delacroix

1847 · Graphite · Drawings and Prints

Delacroix interpreted a moment of high drama in this sketch based on "The Two Foscari," a tragic play by the British poet Lord Byron. The Doge, seated on the throne, has sentenced his son Jacopo to torture and then exile for treason. His wife, doubled over in grief, clutches Jacopo and looks entreatingly toward her father-in-law. Delacroix expressed dissatisfaction with the perspective in this composition and put the project on hold until 1854, when he decided to complete the painting for display at the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris.

Artist

Eugène Delacroix

Date

1847

Medium

Graphite

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of William E. O'Reilly, 2013