Mozart. Applied anthropology inquest

The short life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756-1791), prolific and influential, ended in brutal circumstances and the writing of what turned out to be Mozart's own Requiem followed by a burial in a mass grave was offered to myth makers. That is why methods of anthropology in the forensic sciences were so important after the skull was exhumed in 1801 and examined in 1986-1991 for identification by several scientists. The enquiry verified existing knowledge and made sense of newly discovered facts... Pierre-François Puech offers us what has been learned from the forensic anthropological study of the skull of Mozart, and therefore the book speaks less of music than of science. It all starts with a rather fascinating preamble where various posthumous busts of the composer are mentioned, notably the effigy of Mahler whom Rodin baptized Mozart to lead to the impressive facial reconstruction reproduced on the cover, made from the skull kept at the Mozarteum of Salzburg. We get to the heart of the matter with a quick overview of the last days of Mozart, but most of it takes place after his death. This is first the detailed account of the plaster impression for the manufacture of the Wolfgang death mask. Next comes the story of the recovery of the skull, easily located by a gravedigger who attended the burial in the mass grave. The skull remained clandestine before being studied by various specialists and being the object of a municipal inquiry from Mödling, a place about 8 miles southwest of Vienna where Josef Hyrtl amassed his famous collection of human skulls including the skull of Mozart. Following a request made by the secretary and archivist administrator of the Mozarteum, Johann Ev. Engl, the decision of the court dated July 25, 1901 confirmed the identification. Obviously, one can wonder if the skull around which revolves the whole affair is that of Mozart however the indices of circumstances, historical and anatomical agree. The reading continues with the real anthropological investigation concerning Amadeus, which naturally discusses the causes of the composer's death, and therefore a lot about Salieri. It was not until the International Mozarteum Foundation was asked to design an Amadeus exhibition to trace the life of Mozart and Salieri that applications of Anthropology to Mozart's biography lost its legendary character and entered a scientific phase. The great project started ... Among the questions concerning representation and interpretation that are always part of the biography, it was productive to include Mozart in person. In addition to the afterword by Yves Coppens the researcher who examined a multitude of human bones, the volume ends with two appendices: a study on the portrait of Mozart at age 9 and a half by Zoffany, linked to a cephalometric radio of his presumed skull; a more specific study of the skull dentition in question. Several illustrations illustrate the conclusions drawn throughout the book. CONTENTS The legend. Preface: The bust of Mozart symbolises music . Joseph, the coffee shop proprietor . Count Deym, amateur in facial features. Hyrtl, the anatomist. Cranial expertise . Facial reconstruction . Causes of death . The burial. Abandoned by everyone. Poisoned by Salieri .. Mozart’s secret Bibliography . Postface by Yves Coppens and additional notes