Mozart singing his Requiem

Shields, Thomas W. (1849-1920)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1882

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

Description

Thomas Shields’s Mozart singing his Requiem has two clearly separate groups, one with the instrumentalists, the other with Mozart—himself singing, but with his wife Constanze leaning over him. Mozart does not appear near death, but simply has his eyes down on the manuscript. Constanze appears concerned at his health, with a pitcher of water and a glass nearby. Apart from his wife, the musicians appear engaged with the music-making, and the sentiment is one of finding comfort in music. --Alan Davison (see bibliographical reference)

People as subjects

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791) (Composer)

Iconclass

48B26
artist on his deathbed

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Violin [3573]
Violoncello [3582]
Keyboard instruments [2230]

Musical works

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus -- Requiemillegible music notation

RIdIM images

Bibliographic references

Davison, Alan. "Painting for a Requiem: Mihály Munkácsy’s The last moments of Mozart (1885)", Early music 39/1 (February 2011) 79-92, illus. 4. RILM 2011-33902. DOI: 10.1093/em/caq112

RIdIM record id

4280