A digital artist has created an impressive AI likeness of Beethoven, and not only is this image captivating, it also settles some nagging questions about Beethoven’s ethnicity. Beethoven’s visage in the image looks rather grave and intense.  Indeed, this matches what we know about Beethoven’s personality to a T.  As an artist, he was keenly aware of his place in history even during his own life.  

How did they do it?  The digital artist, Hadi Karimi, used a face mask as well as paintings to inform his AI creation.  Hey, I have no idea how that works, but I couldn’t be more satisfied with the result.  The life mask was created in 1812, according to Classic FM. The availability of a life mask is quite fortuitous and lends credibility to the AI image.  The combination of the life mask, along with observations of skin tone and hair color which Karmini could easily divine from paintings of Beethoven, gave him a lot to work with. 

Beethoven looks distinctly German, and of course Beethoven was from Austria.  This is relevant because we’ve seen Beethoven’s ancestry questioned, in the height of the BLM movement, with some even averring that Beethoven himself was black.  This image would put that to rest, as while Beethoven has a striking appearance in the image, and in some manner very strong masculine features, there is nothing in the image to suggest that he is not European. 

But for those eager to make classical music more diverse, they will be happy that the creator of this image, Hadi Karimi, is Iranian, and has made such a singular contribution to the legacy of classical music.

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