Beethoven's 1812 life mask

[philipR]

Many years ago I acquired a cast of the 1812 mask from the Austrian (I think) ceramist Gotek who had a studio in Colonia Tovar, Venezuela. Is is made of ceramic with a iron oxide glaze ( Vide attached picture). I understood at the time that it has been cast from an original. I would like to know whether there are more copies of the original casting, and what the history would be. Can any co Beethoven fan enlighten me?

[Sorrano]

That is very interesting! You are fortunate to have that!

[Michael]

John Suchet, the writer and Beethoven enthusiast, has an identical (or very similar) life mask. I forget where he bought it - it may have been Vienna - but it appears in numerous publicity photographs of Suchet.

[Hollywood]

If someone wants to buy one for themselves the Beethoven Haus in Bonn sells them. Check it out here on their website:
http://www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de/si...ate=&_mid=3580

[philipR]

many masks

Thank you for the info. There goes my illusion of having something unique. Well, mine is much nicer, and what really counts is the music anyway!

[TiberiaClaudia]

Hi guys,

I purchased a copy of Beethoven's life mask and his death mask from a merchant overseas about eight years ago. I also acquired a very teeny bit of hair that has been certified as genuine by a renowned hair collector out of Gross Pointe, MI and the agency that sold it.

I stare at that tiny, grayish hair strand and think to myself...my god...

J.

[819charles]

Beethoven life/death masks

In 1812 the sculptor Franz Klein was commissioned by the piano maker J.A. Streicher to produce a bust of Beethoven. Beethoven gave him permission to mold his face in plaster. The result was the only life mask ever made of the composer. The story goes that as the session with Klein came to an end, an impatient Beethoven hurriedly took the mask off and threw it on the floor. The mask cracked in two, but the pieces were immediately picked up and Klein put them back together quite seamlessly, later producing the commissioned bust. Many later Beethoven portraits and sculptures were based on this life mask - although Beethoven did allow some other portrait artists a few sittings during his lifetime.

There are many copies on the market today, so they're neither particularly rare nor valuable. Fascinating, but not unique.

Somewhat more unique is his death mask. Cirrhosis of the liver had resulted in jaundice and a dropsical condition. At Schwarzspanierstrasse 15 in Vienna, attended by his longtime friend Stephan von Breuning, the composer steadily declined until he died at 5:15 p.m.

Dr. Johann Wagner performed an autopsy the next day, with special attention to the organs of hearing. He cut through and removed the temporal bones, depriving the face of its lower support and creating the deep hollows seen in the mask. "But in any event," wrote Ernst Benkard, "the master's appearance had changed greatly." The dying Beethoven was "more like a skeleton than a living man."

Joseph Dannhauser, a young artist, made a death mask on Mar. 28, two days after the composer's death and one day before his funeral. Dannhauser later became a principal painter of the Viennese bourgeois genre. "Such casts of great men are often permitted," wrote Bruening beforehand, "and if we forbade it, our refusal might afterwards be regarded as an encroachment upon the rights of the public." Contrasted with Beethoven's life mask of 1812, the facial change is indeed startling.

The above information on both masks was found on the internet. I know a little bit about the history of both masks because I have copies of Beethoven's life mask and his death mask in my own collection of life masks and death masks. Currently I have 47 masks, but I'm always looking for more!