Franz Klein (1779–1840) was an Austrian sculptor; he was born and died in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He is known particularly for his bust of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

, made in 1812.

The life mask

Johann Andreas Streicher Johann Andreas Streicher (13 December 1761 in Stuttgart – 25 May 1833 in Vienna) was a German pianist, composer and piano maker. In 1793 he married Nannette Streicher (1769–1833), another piano maker and the daughter of Augsburg piano maker Jo ...

, pianist and piano-maker, and friend of Beethoven, supervised a private concert hall in Vienna, and in 1812 statues of musicians, sculptured by Klein, were placed in the hall. For the statue of Beethoven, Streicher commissioned Klein to make a

life mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It i ...

of Beethoven.Paul Nettl. "Klein, Franz". ''Beethoven Encyclopedia''. Philosophical Library, New York 1956. Creating the mask involved spreading fluid plaster on the face; the first attempt failed, as Beethoven thought he might suffocate. The second attempt was successful.

H. C. Robbins Landon Howard Chandler Robbins Landon (March 6, 1926November 20, 2009) was an American musicologist, journalist, historian and broadcaster, best known for his work in rediscovering the huge body of neglected music by Haydn and in correcting misunderstand ...

has written that this life mask is "without any question, the most important documentary evidence of Beethoven's features." From the life mask, Klein made a bust of Beethoven; the eyes, hair and clothes were added by the sculptor. During the 19th century, various copies of the sculpture were made, in plaster or bronze.Franz Klein (1779–1840), Lebendmaske Ludwig van Beethovens mit Lorbeerkranz – Anonymer Nachguß der von Franz Klein im Jahr 1812 abgenommenen Maske
Beethoven-Haus Bonn, accessed 6 September 2015.

Later history of the life mask

Sculptor Anton Dietrich acquired the life mask, from which he made several busts of Beethoven, the first of them shown in 1820. After Dietrich's death the life mask was acquired by the sculptor

Kaspar von Zumbusch Kaspar lemens EduardZumbusch (23 November 1830 – 27 September 1915), as of 1888 Ritter von Zumbusch (a nobiliary particle), was a German sculptor, born at Herzebrock, Westphalia, who became a pre-eminent sculptor of neo-Baroque monuments in Vi ...

, who created a monument of Beethoven in Vienna (1873–1880). A mask came into the hands of Bulgarian-born Parisian painte
Michel Katzaroff
After painting 36 portraits of Beethoven, in around 1952 Katzaroff gave the life mask to violinist and composer Eve Hungerford,NLA
Friends News - Summer 2022 who was very much interested in Beethoven. Beethoven'
life mask
(dated "1827?") was presented to the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

by her nephew of and is part of Hungerford'
manuscript collection
of papers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Franz 1779 births 1840 deaths Sculptors from Vienna Austrian sculptors Austrian male sculptors