Portrait that puzzled experts for centuries was Mozart: Tiny 18th century picture finally identified as the young musical genius
Worldwide, Daily news | ankakh | January 12, 2013 17:34
For centuries the identity of the young, grey-haired man in an 18th century portrait has puzzled experts.
Experts at Salzburg’s Mozarteum museum have concluded that the model is indeed the musical genius.
Mozart was usually depicted in portraits wearing a powdered white wig, one reason why his identification has taken so long.
The researchers said that of 14 known portraits, it is one of the only pictures to show him gazing directly at the viewer and without the wig.
Expert Cristoph Grosspietch says the museum’s findings are based on examinations of the portrait and historical records from the era.
The Austrian is one of the most celebrated composers of the classical era, having inspired western popular music in the centuries since his death in 1791.
He composed over 600 works over his lifetime. He was described by tenor Michael Kelly, in his Reminiscences as ‘a remarkably small man, very thin and pale, with a profusion of fine, fair hair of which he was rather vain’.
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