Beethoven died on 26 March 1827. Several thousand people followed the coffin in the funeral procession. The painter Josef Danhauser made the death mask only a few hours after Beethoven passed away. Danhauser had to wait until a barber had shaved Beethoven’s face. Only a few decades earlier, the preparation of death masks had been reserved for kings and nobles. Beethoven’s mask is evidence of the new status of artists in the early 19th century.
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