Mozart and the Keyboard Culture of His Time

Clever Forgery
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The artist claimed this was a copy of a German portrait completed around 1770. In reality, this is a clever forgery based on one of the authentic miniatures of Mozart by Lorenzo Posch. The artist simply added Mozart’s head to a scene depicting a man composing at the keyboard. Portraits were often reproduced as engravings, so the artist’s claim to authenticity was believable.

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[top] Mozart, Composing. Hand-colored Etching by Giovanni Sasso, Paris, ca. 1815. [1805?]
[bottom] Miniature Boxwood Medallion by Lorenzo Posch, May, 1789. Original owned by the Mozarteum, Salzburg.
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continue tour
Introduction
From Sketch to Completed Work
From Print to CD
How did Mozart Compose?
The Mozart Myth: Tales of a Forgery
Mozart's Images
Mozart's Images Imagined
What the Score Doesn't Tell Us
The Piano Lesson
The Cult of Mozart
Commodification & Kitsch
Credits
Cornell University Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Cornell University Library

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