Bach portrait returning to Germany

NEW YORK - Agence France-Presse

The best-known portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach will go on public view for the first time in centuries after its American owner bequeathed it to an archive in the composer’s native Germany.

The portrait by E. G. Haussmannis considered by some to be the most authentic depiction of the musical great and is frequently reproduced in biographies.

Philanthropist William Scheide, who struck it rich at a young age from oil and devoted his life to musicology and rare books, died last year at 100 and left the 1748 painting, estimated to be worth $2.5 million, to the Leipzig Bach Archive. The archive will put the painting on permanent public display for the first time since the 18th century starting with a Bach festival in June.