RIPM’s Illustration of the Week!
A Lithograph of Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn died 170 years ago on 4 November 1847.  In his honor we present this beautiful lithograph of the composer, by an unidentified artist. It appeared in a biographical study published in 1836 in London’s The Musical World.

The Musical World, Vol. 4 Supplemental Pages (1836): [1p.]

His hair was black and curling, the forehead of the highest order of intellectual beauty, the nose somewhat bent, the lips well chiseled, the shape of the face oval, the eyes irresistible, brilliant, and spiritual.

Elise Polko, “Reminisces of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,” translated by Grace Wallace (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1869): 77.

 

RIPM search tip: A search for “Mendelssohn” in RIPM’s Retrospective Index reveals that his name appears in 12,529 citations!