Was there really lead in his head

[MusicStar80]

I am new to the website and don't know very much about beethoven.But my friend said he died with lead in his head is that true?

[Gurn Blanston]

Originally posted by MusicStar80:
I am new to the website and don't know very much about beethoven.But my friend said he died with lead in his head is that true?

I don't know about the head part, but I have heard that he suffered from lead poisoning, although I have not heard that being his cause of death, probably the cause for his misery while alive though. It seems as though there has been a book written recently about doing analysis of a lock of his hair, which would certainly show lead if it was there, and may be the root of your friend's statement. Of course, just showing up in the hair doesn't mean it was confined to his head.



------------------
Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Pastorali]

This link http://www2.sjsu.edu/depts/beethoven/ is maybe intersting for you.

[Chaszz]

Lead was widely used in many areas of life before it was found to be harmful in relatively recent times. Lead was used everywhere in ancient Roman plumbing and some scholars speculate that this cointributed to the fall of the empire. The great Spanish painter Francisco Goya, who was a contemporary of Beethoven, used paint including lead white very freely and may have had lead poisoning as a result of ingesting it under his fingernails. Goya's works include nightmarish images of war and monsters, which some have speculated were the result of lead-induced mental states. Some of them, including a very powerful etching of a huge figure representing war, brooding over tiny humans, I find reminiscent of some of Beethoven's large dramatic and modern-pointing works, such as the 3rd Symphony.

[Joy]

The book Gurn is referring to is by Russell Martin 'Beethoven's Hair' and is full of lead poisoning analysis and information to Beethoven's probable prolonged illnesses which could have been caused by lead poisoning. As Chaszz said this was quite common in those days as a lot of utensils, bowls, cups, etc. were made of lead and ingesting lead was pretty easy.

------------------
'Truth and beauty joined'

[Chaszz]

Originally posted by Joy:
The book Gurn is referring to is by Russell Martin 'Beethoven's Hair' and is full of lead poisoning analysis and information to Beethoven's probable prolonged illnesses which could have been caused by lead poisoning. As Chaszz said this was quite common in those days as a lot of utensils, bowls, cups, etc. were made of lead and ingesting lead was pretty easy.

To add a little to what Joy said, based on my former art teaching career, much pottery and dishes in the old days were often fired with glazes (the shiny or half-shiny outer covering or decoration) made with lead, which could later leach off into the food. This is usually not the case today, but might occur in pottery made in local crafts places where you go and make something by pouring liquid clay into a mold, which is then fired for you in a kiln, or you might just pick a pre-fired cast, decorate it with glaze, and then it is fired for you. Some of these glazes still contain lead, and the firing temperature of the kilns at these shops is often pretty low, which leads to eventual leaching. So I would not eat or drink out of something you made yourself or your auntie made for you at one of these places. Best to check with the proprietor. Pottery handmade by a fine artist potter is probably OK, but checking is always best. As a rule anything nowadays mass-manufactured and sold retail as a food untensil is safe. Although I would be a little suspicious with things from tropical or third world countries, where lead still may be used in glazes.