Francesco Foscari was Doge of Venice from 1423 to 1457. He was deposed from office and died five days later on 1 November 1457. When his rival was elected it was said that the shock of the sound of the great bell of S. Marco announcing the new appointment caused Foscari’s death. He is surrounded by his family, and through the window can be seen the Bucintoro, the Doge’s official state boat, on the Grand Canal. Foscari’s life was the subject of the play 'The Two Foscari' by Lord Byron, the final scene of which dramatises the Doge’s death. Byron’s play was the basis for the libretto for Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, 'I Due Foscari', which Queen Victoria admired. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1854. Signed and dated: FRP / ARA [partly in monogram] / 1854.