# Bust of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/rietschel-ernest-friedrich-august-r93fe161084a34a/bust-of-felix-mendelssohn-bartholdy-r8060612c4c66e1>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [RIETSCHEL, Ernest Friedrich August](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/rietschel-ernest-friedrich-august-r93fe161084a34a>)
- Date: 1801-1850
- Technique: Marble, height 60 cm

## Commentary

On November 4 1847, the composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy died in Leipzig at the age of only 38, after suffering several strokes. The family had had a death mask taken and asked Rietschel to come and look at the dead man himself once in order to do a bust. The bust was completed by the end of January 1848. Rietschel created an extraordinarily lifelike and individual portrait of the composer. &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 \(streaming mp3, 4 minutes\):&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&#34;\#&#34; onClick=&#34;w=window.open \(&#39;/music1/19\_cent/mendelssohn\_hebrides.html&#39;, &#39;newWin&#39;, &#39;scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350&#39;\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true&#34;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: The Hebrides Overture \(&#39;Fingals Cave&#39;\)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;

## Attribution

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