Skip to main content

Life Mask of Beethoven (1770-1827): M.7 & A-1920

An image of Life mask
View image details

Terms of use

The low-resolution images published on this Website are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY-NC-ND). For more details: Fitzwilliam Terms of Use

This licence does not include any images of works that are still in copyright. Artistic copyright extends from the life of the artist to 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the artist died.

Download this image

For further information on use of images or to license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who can discuss terms and fees.

Alternative views

An image of Life mask
Current Location: In storage

Titles

Life Mask of Beethoven (1770-1827)

Maker(s)

Production: Unknown (Probably)

Entities

Categories

Description

Plaster, cast., suspended In wood and glass box.

Legal notes

Given by Sir Herbert Thompson, Bart

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1920-12-11) by Thompson, Henry Francis Herbert

Dating

19th Century, second quarter
Production date: circa AD 1827 : The mask may be a replica cast made later than the year of Beethoven's death.

Note

Beethoven was buried in Vienna, it therefore seems likely that this death mask was made there

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Box composed of wood glass Depth 17.5 cm Height 29.5 cm Width 24.6 cm
Plaster Height 20.2 cm

Materials used in production

Plaster

Techniques used in production

Casting (process) : Plaster, cast

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.7 & A-1920
Primary reference Number: 29516

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 25 March 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Life Mask of Beethoven (1770-1827)" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/29516 Accessed: 2025-12-06 17:20:27

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/29516 |title=Life Mask of Beethoven (1770-1827) |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-06 17:20:27|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-29516

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa6/M_7_1920_281_29.jpg"
        alt="Life Mask of Beethoven (1770-1827)"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Life Mask of Beethoven (1770-1827)</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...

University of Cambridge Museums logo
Cambridge City Council logo
Arts Council England Logo
Research England logo