Richard Wagner died of a heart attack in the palazzo Vendramin Calergi on 13 February 1883 at age 69. A memorial plaque on a brick wall adjacent to the palazzo is inscribed with a tribute by novelist and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio that reads: "In questo palagio / l'ultimo spiro di Riccardo Wagner / odono le anime perpetuarsi come la marea / che lambe i marmi" ("In this palace / the souls hear / the last breath of Richard Wagner / perpetuating itself like the tide / which washes the marble beneath").