The Death of Doge Marino Faliero

The Death of Doge Marino Faliero is an influential nineteenth-century French print, executed in 1864 by Léopold Flameng after a composition by the seminal Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix. This work, classified as a print, is an etching carefully rendered on laid paper. The historical subject matter depicts the brutal execution of the elderly Doge Marino Faliero in 1355, following his failed conspiracy against the Venetian Republic. Flameng, known for his masterful reproductive prints, captured the intense emotionality and powerful compositional drama inherent in Delacroix’s original design, translating the artist’s characteristic use of theatrical lighting and turbulent movement into the precise linear language of the etching technique.

Although executed near the end of the Romantic era, this piece embodies the movement’s fascination with dramatic historical tragedy and individual fate. The production period, spanning 1851 to 1875, coincided with a crucial time for the dissemination of art through reproductive media. Prints like this allowed wider audiences to experience the large-scale history paintings and ambitious concepts pioneered by masters such as Delacroix, cementing his legacy in French culture. The collaborative nature of the production, utilizing Flameng’s skills to reproduce Delacroix’s vision, speaks to the high value placed on artistic documentation and replication during the mid-nineteenth century.

This significant French work, documenting a key moment of aristocratic downfall and artistic collaboration, is preserved within the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. The etching provides valuable insight into the artistic practices and cultural priorities of the period 1851 to 1875, confirming the enduring power of historical narrative within European art.