Portrait of Mozart found

15 Mar 2008, 1:53 pm   -   Source: AFP
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A painting of Mozart has been discovered, and academics say it could be the most significant portrait of the composer ever found (Getty Images)

A painting of Mozart has been discovered, and academics say it could be the most significant portrait of the composer ever found (Getty Images)

A previously unknown portrait of Mozart has been found, and could be the most important portrait of the renowned composer to come to light, a British academic says.

A previously unknown portrait of Mozart has been found, and could be the most important portrait of the renowned composer to come to light, a British academic says.

The discovery -- which could be worth several million dollars -- was owned by the family of Johann Lorenz Hagenauer, a close friend of the Mozart family in Salzburg.

"This is arguably the most important Mozart portrait to be discovered since the composer's death in 1791 and only the fourth known authentic portrait of him from his Vienna years," says Professor Cliff Eisen.

Mr Eisen, from King's College London, undertook extensive research to authenticate the portrait, which is painted in oils and measures 48 cm by 35.6 cm, showing the composer in profile in a red jacket.

Gift to influential family

After studying letters from Mozart and his family, archival documents and estate auction records, he believes it was probably painted about 1783 by Joseph Hickel, a painter to the Imperial Court of Austria.

Family tradition said it was a gift to Mozart in return for dedicating a composition to a member of the Hickel family.

An American collector bought the portrait in 2005 and was unaware of its significance until the Hagenauer connection was established.

Professor Simon Keefe, James Rossiter chair of music at Sheffield University, in northern England, says Mr Eisen had made a "persuasive case" about its provenance and the find was "inherently significant".

'New thinking' on Mozart

"Needless to say, it will encourage us to think afresh about Mozart's appearance," he said in a statement.

"Furthermore, it should soon, as of right, join the other two most famous pictures of the adult Mozart -- an unfinished painting by Mozart's brother-in-law Joseph Lange and a posthumous one by Barbara Kraft -- as the defining image of the composer in the public consciousness."

Born in Salzburg in 1756, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart took up residence in Vienna in 1781, where he composed his most famous works.

He is generally considered one of the world's greatest composers.
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