The Mozart Necklace

​

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) came to Vienna in 1781 and married Constanze Weber on 4 August 1782. Wolfgang A. Mozart gave his beloved wife Constanze this exclusive piece of jewelry, which was made by the micro-sculptors Hess in Vienna. The micro-image of the Mozart necklace was set with 42 old-cut diamonds. In her will written on 23 June 1843, Constanze Nissen (before Mozart) bequeathed a pearl necklace to her sons with the following words: “11 Schnüre gute Perlen mit Elfenbeinschließe von dem berühmten Hesse encircled with brilliant cut diamonds”.

The Maria Theresa brooch with a total of three micro-images was set with 84 old-cut diamonds. The striking feature of this relief, which was even depicted in the painted picture by the painter, is the vertical format of the relief with the dark blue area in the centre of the vertical oval (central perspective). Before 1821 Constanze Mozart and her son Wolfgang had themselves painted, according to the records of Thomas Spitzer née Perwang and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In the present picture Constanze is shown wearing the necklace. No other of the more than 1500 micrographs has such a match of border size and the dark blue dot in the centre of the micro picture.