English: Copy of Ludwig van Beethoven's death mask. Original mask created by the artist Joseph Dannhauser on March 28, 1827, two days after Beethoven's death. "The master's appearance had changed greatly," wrote Ernst Benkard. The dying Beethoven was "more like a skeleton than a living man." (A bust by Hugo Hagens based on Beethoven's 1812 life mask is often misidentified as being based on the death mask.)