The last known portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been discovered in Berlin after sitting unnoticed in a gallery warehouse for 70 years.
Art historians have authenticated the portrait as that of Mozart, painted by fellow Austrian Johann Georg Edlinger in Munich in 1790, a year before the composer died in Vienna aged 35.
Wild living and poor health took their toll on the composer's appearance, as is clear in the portrait: the onetime child prodigy has a puffy face with dark shadows under tired eyes. He wears ill-fitting clothes topped off with a tatty, powdered haircut.
The work, authenticated this week by art experts, has caused a sensation in Germany. Only a handful of portraits of the composer survive, and many of these are copies of other works. The most common image of Mozart these days in Germany and Austria is a kitschy portrait that adorns a brand of chocolates - Mozartkugeln - which bears his name.
"The gallery bought this portrait in 1934 from a Munich dealer for 650 Reichsmarks and we thought it was just an anonymous portrait of a Munich society man," said Dr Rainer Michaelis, senior custodian of Berlin's Gemäldegalerie. "Now that we know otherwise, we're incredibly proud."
The gallery believes the work was painted during Mozart's last visit to Munich in 1790, when he stayed as usual at the Schwarzen Adler (Black Eagle) guesthouse. The artist, Edlinger, knew the owner of the guesthouse and had his studio nearby, adding to the likelihood that Mozart posed for the portrait.
Dr Michaelis commissioned Dr Wolfgang Seiller to reach a definite conclusion. He used computer analysis to compare it with an earlier portrait and announced that the later work was also a portrait of Mozart. It will be unveiled to the public on January 27th, the 249th anniversary of Mozart's birthday.