Mozart's last portrait

A portrait of Mozart which lay anonymously in the cellars of the Berlin State Museum until an amateur art buff identified it has gone on display in the run-up to the composer's 250th birthday next year.

The picture was painted shortly before Mozart's death in 1791 and has been confirmed as the last known portrait of the Austrian composer.

The museum bought the picture, by Johann Georg Edlinger, in 1934 for the modest sum of 650 reichsmarks without realising it was one of only 10 Mozart portraits in existence.

Full story in the Guardian. More on Mozart portraits here; the BBC writeup has a photograph.

Posted by David on January 8, 2005 2:20 PM