Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg: His Short Biography and Aesthetic Representation of His Works

of his death was Johanna’s touching farewell from the paternal fields, from Schiller’s The Maid of Orleans. It is set with such sentiment that one cannot hear it without tears of the deepest emotion. He had written the closing words, “Johanna leaves, and never does she return,” for himself. He, too, has left us in the days of his strength—alas, he never returns!

Zumsteeg’s facial features showed manly firmness in sharply marked lines, with a somber seriousness and high dignity. His black eye of fire looked into the depths of the soul; around his mouth played a touch of gentle good-nature, which reconciled the sharper lines above the eyes. Despite all firmness, his countenance had much that was engaging and inspired trust, and his melancholy gained grace and dignity through his manly posture.

A portrait, taken from his youthful physiognomy, can be found in the second volume of the Museum of German Musicians, by Professor C. A. Siebigke (Breslau, published by Schall, 1801).

One finds his bust as a mature man, drawn by Hiemer and engraved by C. F. Stölzel in 1799, in stippled manner, as