Ludwig van Beethoven in den Wolken thronend - Aquatinta-Radierung von Joseph Adolf Lang nach einer eigenen Zeichnung, 1905

The admiration for Beethoven as the embodiment of a creative artist reached its climax at the end of the 19th and in the first third of the 20th century. Beethoven was not reagarded a contemporary musician or inspired composer any longer but compared with the struggling Titan Prometheus or even with Jupiter, king of the gods and far above the human world.

To express this special adoration for Beethoven, many artists, among them Joseph Adolf Lang (1873-before 1928) depicted Beethoven sitting on a high throne. By using a rather plain and blocky form, they tried to make their depictions particularly monumental and emphasise the distance between the Titan Beethoven and the ordinary human being.(S.B.)