Rienzi: acte V, prière de Rienzi (Rienzi's Prayer)

Medium: Lithograph, chîne-collé
Dimensions: 8 7/8 x 5 3/4 inches
Artist details: French, 1849 - 1904
Date of impression: 1886
Reference: Hediard 63

Recommended by Paige (Collections Manager / Marketing Coordinator):

I love when art forms interact, like in this lithograph by Henri Fantin-Latour which depicts a scene from the tragic opera, ’Rienzi’, by Richard Wagner. It captures the finale, with Rienzi on his knees, fires destroying the city through the window, and Rienzi’s sister Irene emerging from the shadows. Rienzi, the protector of the people who rose to power as a mere plebeian, is betrayed and now condemned to death. Still, Wagner and Fantin-Latour both remember the importance of Irene. A constant character who actually opens the opera, she appears here to show her loyalty and choose the same fate as her brother in the name of uniting Rome, even though she has the option to attempt an escape with Adriano.