[Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. (1756–1791)] Scharff, Anton. (1845–1903) Bronze 1896 Portrait Medal

[Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. (1756–1791)] Scharff, Anton. (1845–1903)

Bronze 1896 Portrait Medal

Uniface bronze portrait medal showing a half-length portrait of the composer in relief. By the renowned medalist Anton Scharff, Vienna 1896. 5.5 cm in diameter, very fine. W.R. von Wurzbach-Tannenberg, Medaillen-Sammlung, ii 6420 (Hamburg, 1978)

This fine medal was originally struck to commemorate the unveiling in the Albertinaplatz, Vienna, of Viktor Tilgner's statue of Mozart, 140 years after the composer's birth, in 1896. This statue, generally regarded as Tilgner's masterpiece, is easily one of the most attractive and romantic of the composer in existence - that by Ludwig Schwanthaler in Salzburg, for example, is heavy and uninspired by comparison. Unfortunately heavily damaged in the war, the Albertina statue was relocated to the Burggarten near the Hofburg after extensive restoration in 1953. Anton Scharff (1845-1903) was one of Austria's leading late nineteenth-century medallists and a former chief engraver of the Austrian Mint. (7972)

Ephemera Classical Music