Beethoven's Room
by HOECHLE, Johann Nepomuk, Wash on paper, 258 x 210 mm
This drawing shows Beethoven’s study in the Schwarzspanierhaus - his final residence. Hoechle’s “portrait” of the room was made three days after the composer’s death. The idea was to preserve, in visual form at least, the way Beethoven’s last dwelling place had looked. In the drawing we can see one of the several versions of Beethoven’s bust (all plaster casts) placed on the right window ledge, made by the young sculptor Anton Dietrich (1796-1872). No marble copy was ever realized of the plaster casts.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 6 minutes):
Ludwig van Beethoven: Die Gesch�pfe des Prometheus (The Creatures of Prometheus), overture op. 43