Alessandra Comini
The Changing Image of Beethoven: A Study in Mythmaking.
Rizzoli, 1987. First edition. 0847806170 480 pages.
Large-format volume, measuring approximately 8.5" x 10.5", is bound in light brown cloth, with black lettering to spine and blind-stamped title at top edge of front cover. Book and dust jacket are like new. Jacket is preserved in mylar cover.
"In this unique study of Ludwig van Beethoven, Alessandra Comini brilliantly examines the phenomenon of the contradictory imagery of the "real" Beethoven of contemporary and posthumous accounts in some 200 illustrations of paintings, sculptures, prints, and verbal accounts. Her absorbing story, told in a witty and anecdotal style, moves from the changing image of Beethoven in the visual arts -- to the interior image of Beethoven held by all those who contributed to his mythmaking mystique. A collective image of the composer emerges that reflects the cultural obsessions and aspirations of successive historical epochs and differing nationalities."