26. William Daniell (1769-1837)
after George Dance (1740-1825)

Joseph Haydn

(click on image to print)
Daniell, Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Soft-ground etching, 1809, National Portrait Gallery D35630, 268 x 200 mm. Fine impression on wove paper with good margins; a tiny thin spot. 1809 marked the death of the great composer Joseph Haydn and , perhaps coincidentally, this print was published in that year. It was based, however, on Dance’s portrait drawing of 1794, the year of Haydn’s second visit to London, and most assuredly done from life. In the closing years of the eighteenth century, Haydn was, certainly in musical circles, the most celebrated foreign visitor to London, a dozen new symphonies having been composed by him for first performances there, and each performance arousing an enthusiasm not seen since the days of George Frederick Handel.