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Louis Asher, portrait of Jenny Lind, painting 1845. Photo: Erik Cornelius, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. From the music side the picture is fairly simple, it tells us that it is a portrait of Jenny Lind and probably also that Mendelssohn was important in her life. At least she performs his music and nobody else’s. But we happen to know what Jenny Lind was doing in 1845 when the German artist Louis Asher painted this. She was in Germany, touring and working hard, in fact too hard so she got very tired. She even wanted to leave the theatre. 26
A letter to her mother tells about that. 4 In her life there was also a desire to have a family – her own childhood was not very happy and she missed having a family. She had fallen in love with Felix Mendelssohn, but he was unapproachable since he was married already. We have a lively description of this in a diary written by Jenny Lind’s accompanying lady Louise Johansson. 5 She tells how Jenny and Mendelssohn both performed in a concert where Mendelssohn played a piece he had written himself and which was very much appreciated. Twelve days later, on December 17, Jenny sends him a letter and Louise is very worried how this will affect Mendelssonhn’s family. “Poor wife and children!” she says. Further, in March 1846 Jenny sung at a concert for the poor and that afternoon she twisted her ancle. Although ordered by the doctor to rest with cold compresses she instead stood for the whole evening and the next day she needed bloodletting treatment with leeches and was ordered to rest for 14 days. This evening Felix Mendelssohn was at Vickman’s where also Jenny stayed for din<strong>ner</strong>. 6 That is why Jenny was standing up the whole evening (p.39 in the diary). So it seams clear that Jenny had a crush on Mendelssohn. Jenny herself did not know that Louise kept this diary which revealed so much about her private life. 7 A final remark — what does the dog to the right do in the picture? It is difficult to say. During the renaissance it used to symbolize faithfullness, but during the 1800’s I am not so sure... However, I do know that Jenny Lind had several dogs during her life, one of which she was given by Queen Victoria. Our next example is a group portrait. Here the presence of music lets us know that someone has an interest in music. For a long time it was important to show interests that were really the “musts” of their time. Being interested in culture was one of these and representing music was part of such a message. We also touch upon the symbolic meaning of music, namely harmony, when looking at a picture of a family gathering around an instrument. 4 See the letter from Jenny to her mother, written in Berlin February 2 nd , 1845, where she describes how homesick and tired she is and that she wants to leave the theatre and that she has difficulties with all the fuss around her. The letter belongs to the letter collections of the Music and Theatre Library of Sweden. 5 Louise Johansson, nine years older than Jenny, had partly grown up together with her. In Jenny’s household she started as a paying guest but gradually became more of a housekeeper. 6 Louise must refer to the sculpturer Wichman – they stayed at his place when visiting Berlin 1845 and this was also where Jenny first met Felix Mendelssohn. 7 Two diaries by Louise Johansson exist – one in the Music and Theatre Library of Sweden and the other in the Uppsala University Library. The handwriting is difficult to read and so is the spelling. The diaries have been published: Åke Davidsson, Resa med Jenny Lind: Sällskaps- damen Louise Johanssons dagböcker. Uppsala, 1986. 27
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