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Something of Haydn's person and character will have already been
gathered from the foregoing pages. He considered himself an ugly
man, and, in Addison's words, thought that the best expedient was
"to be pleasant upon himself." His face was deeply pitted with
small-pox, and the nose, large and aquiline, was disfigured by
the polypus which he had inherited from his mother. In complexion
he was so dark as to have earned in some quarters the familiar
nickname of "The Moor." His underlip was thick and hanging, his
jaw massive. "The mouth and chin are Philistine," wrote Lavater
under his silhouette, noting, at the same time, "something out of
the common in the eyes and the nose." The eyes were dark gray.
They are described as "beaming with benevolence," and he used
to say himself: "Anyone can see by the look of me that I am a
good-natured sort of fellow."
In stature he was rather under the middle height, with legs
disproportionately short, a defect rendered more noticeable by
the style of his dress, which he refused to change with the
changes of fashion. Dies writes: "His features were regular, his
expression animated, yet, at the same time, temperate, gentle and
attractive. His face wore a stern look when in repose, but in
conversation it was smiling and cheerful. I never heard him laugh
out loud. His build was substantial, but deficient in muscle."
Another of his acquaintances says that "notwithstanding a cast of
physiognomy rather morose, and a short way of expressing himself,
which seemed to indicate an ill-tempered man, the character of
Haydn was gay, open and humorous." From these testimonies we get
the impression of a rather unusual combination of the attractive
and the repulsive, the intellectual and the vulgar. What Lavater
described as the "lofty and good" brow was partly concealed by a
wig, with side curls, and a pig-tail, which he wore to the last.
His dress as a private individual has not been described in
detail, but the Esterhazy uniform, though frequently changing in
colour and style, showed him in knee-breeches, white stockings,
lace ruffles and white neckcloth. This uniform he never wore
except when on actual duty.
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