Day of Repentance, everything is closed, but I manage to get the museum opened with Prof. Doepler; great pleasure in the old pieces and the newly acquired ones, especially a head by van Eyck[1] and a portrait by Velázquez.[2] Returning home, I find R. in great distress, overwhelmed with visits, along with the pressing task of organising the programs for Vienna, where a third concert is anticipated. Unceasing annoyances from the photographers! Visits with R. (English ambassador, Usedoms, etc.). At 5 o’clock, I go to my niece Johanna’s[3]; a very pleasant dinner with the court lady of the Crown Princess, Countess Brühl, Dohm, and others. The evening is spent in a small circle at the Ministry of the Royal Household.
[1] Jan van Eyck (c. 1390–1441), Dutch painter, co-founder of Early Netherlandish painting along with his brother Hubert.
[2] Diego de Silva Velázquez (1599–1660), Spanish painter and portraitist.
[3] Johanna Jachmann-Wagner (1828 – 1894), german Opera singer, daughter of Richards older brother Albert (1799 – 1874).
Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.