File:Beethoven Riedel 1801.jpg

Artist	Carl Traugott Riedel  (1769–)     Alternative names Karl Traugott Riedel Description German engraver Date of birth/death 1769  after 1832 date QS:P, 1832-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319, 1832-00-00T00:00:00Z/9   Location of birth Lubań Work period between circa 1800 and circa 1832 date QS:P, 1850-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319, 1800-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326, 1832-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 Work location Leipzig (1803–)  Authority file : Q30302326 VIAF: 20100391 ISNI: 0000000006935166 GND: 103766316 BNF: 14801419v J9U: 987007308481905171 artist QS:P170,Q30302326
Object type	painting object_type QS:P31,Q3305213
Description	Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven
Date	1801 date QS:P571, 1801-00-00T00:00:00Z/9
Medium	painting
Collection	UnknownUnknown
Source/Photographer	www.answers.com
Other versions

I'm having trouble figuring out the provenance of this picture.

The Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, an authoritative source, gives a picture of an engraving (black and white) that looks rather like this picture. They say it is an engraved portrait made by Riedel "based on an earlier drawing from Vienna portrait artist Gandolph Ernst Stainhauser." You can see this engraving (overwritten by a watermark, so we can't use it) at their website: [1]^{[dead link]}.

The image we are using is colored -- who did this? -- and I think it is also much more flattering than the engraving displayed by the Beethoven-Haus. Could it be a long-post-Beethoven sentimentalized version of the Riedel engraving? Certainly there is plenty of precedent for this kind of falsification. And the hypothesis that it is a post-lifetime sentimentalized portrait would explain why it displays a handsome young man when contemporary testimony (see Beethoven-Haus link) tells us Beethoven was pretty darn ugly.

I am stuck, and input from experts would be most welcome. Opus33 (talk) 02:41, 12 December 2016 (UTC)

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