The International Mozarteum Foundation has caused a small sensation: it has brought the famous privately owned portrait “Mozart in Verona” to Salzburg on permanent loan.
“It is one of the most important Mozart paintings from the early period,” said Linus Klumpner, director of the Mozart Museums, on Friday at the presentation of the new exhibition “Mozart: Che bello! A genius in Italy” in Mozart’s residence. Central to the exhibition is the portrait of the then 13-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus, made in 1770. The painting last changed hands in 2019. The foundation made no contribution at the time. “It was financially unattainable for us,” said Foundation Chairman Johannes Honsig-Erlenburg.
The photo went to a private collection in Asia for 4.6 million euros. After years of discussion, the new owner was finally convinced to make the photo available to the public again. “We were able to secure the painting as a permanent loan for Salzburg,” said Klumpner happily: “It took a lot of persuasion. It’s a sensation when something like this works.” Especially because the owner gets nothing back for the loan.
“Image as if taken from life”
For ‘Mozart in Verona’ the musician sat in the palazzo of the wealthy tax official Pietro Lugiati on January 6 and 7, 1770. Gianbettino Cignaroli is considered the painter, even though this cannot yet be proven 100 percent, Klumpner explains. What is certain is that he was a master of his craft. ‘The photo is as if taken from life.’ The young Mozart sits in a beautiful red coat at a historic harpsichord, with a score for him that eventually ended up in the Kochen directory as ‘Veronese Allegro’ under number 72a, although the original sheet music has been lost.
The valuable new acquisition is shown in the current exhibition in the context of the first Italian trip that Wolfgang Amadeus made to Naples with his father Leopold for fifteen months in 1769 and 1770. The show dispels the cliché that Mozart traveled through Italy as “the little, sweet prodigy”. “He was no longer a child prodigy, but an established professional musician,” Klumpner made clear.
Mozart received much recognition during this trip. He was admitted to the music academies of Verona and Bologna and signed contracts for the first major opera compositions such as Lucio Silla. Original documents, letters and newspaper clippings, together with maps, theater models and countless paintings and engravings, paint a picture of this journey to Italy, which was so formative for the musical genius.
Source: Krone
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