Painting of a young Mozart is discovered

14 January 2013, 16:40 | Updated: 15 January 2013, 12:33

The young Mozart has been confirmed as the subject of a previously unknown portrait by experts in Salzburg

A portrait has been confirmed as depicting a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Researchers at the Mozarteum museum in Salzburg confirmed at the end of last week that the picture of a young grey-haired man was in fact the Austrian composer.

The identity of pictured man was a mystery for many years, until experts used a variety of other portraits and pictures of Mozart to conclude that it was indeed the young composer.

Unusually, the portrait shows the composer looking directly at the viewer and without a wig. Most portraits of the time would show the subject in a wig and looking into middle distance.

The artist who completed the picture remains unknown. The same group of experts at the Mazarteum also discounted a picture of a young boy holding a bird's nest after it was suspected to be a picture of Mozart.