# Large Tragic Mask of Beethoven

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bourdelle-mile-antoine-r570e6c401beba9/large-tragic-mask-of-beethoven-r3928f243c88350>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [BOURDELLE, Émile-Antoine](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bourdelle-mile-antoine-r570e6c401beba9>)
- Date: 1851-1900
- Technique: Bronze, height 77 cm

## Commentary

Large Tragic Mask of Beethoven 1901 Bronze, height 77 cm The Hermitage, St. Petersburg Bourdelle made more than 40 depictions of the great composer. For him, Beethoven became the embodiment of creative energy, which is conveyed here by the expressive painterly treatment of the material, accentuating volume by means of texture and line. The empty and strangely convex eye sockets in this face without a gaze intensify the sense of a force bursting it apart from within, which seems to originate from the mighty arch of the tightly pressed lips. &lt;p&gt; &lt;table align=left cellpadding=5 border=1 width=320 bgcolor=&#34;\#99cccc&#34;&gt; &lt;tr valign=middle&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;/support/gif/listen.gif&#34; border=0 valign=middle&gt; Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 7 minutes\):&lt;BR&gt;&lt;A HREF=&#34;\#&#34; onClick=&#34;w=window.open \(&#39;/music1/beethoven/beethoven\_symphony5\_1.html&#39;, &#39;newWin&#39;, &#39;scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350&#39;\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true&#34;&gt;&lt;B&gt;Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor op. 67 \(1st mvt\)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;

## Related artworks

- [Hercules the Archer](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bourdelle-mile-antoine-r570e6c401beba9/hercules-the-archer-r9eec07422f9417>)
- [Ludwig van Beethoven](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bourdelle-mile-antoine-r570e6c401beba9/ludwig-van-beethoven-r174c35b14dc2f3>)
- [Night](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bourdelle-mile-antoine-r570e6c401beba9/night-r795d42bd0b625f>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)