Born in
Buda, early in life he moved to
Vienna, where he studied as a painter under
Johann Baptist von Lampi the Younger. In 1818 he painted portraits of Joseph Koberwein and Maximilian Korn, both actors at the
Burgtheater, along with ones of members of the nobility. He became friends with the composer
Franz Schubert, who encouraged him to become a singer. While still in Vienna he performed the role of Palmerin in the premiere of Schubert's
Die Zauberharfe on 19 August 1820. . In 1821 he moved to Munich and on 1 July performed in
Beethoven's
Fidelio at the
Munich Court Opera. He mostly sang supporting roles for the Court Opera, such as Basilio in
The Marriage of Figaro or Lorenzo in
La muette de Portici. He retired in 1840 after losing his voice. He continued painting, including one of the composer, musician and conductor
Louis Spohr. He also took part in decorating the
loggias of the
Neue Pinakothek under
Clemens von Zimmermann. One of his best-known works is an 1825 portrait of
Carl Maria von Weber and another of Beethoven.
Portrait of Beethoven .
Anton Schindler, Beethoven's one-time secretary and later his biographer, claims to have suggested to Schimon that he paint Beethoven's portrait. According to him the painting was created in autumn 1819. However, it is now proven that Schindler only met Schimon years later and so this account is most probably a fabrication. It may have been created as early as 1815 at the suggestion of
Johann Joseph Eichhoff, a childhood friend of the composer from
Bonn, who visited the composer in Vienna on 27 March 1815. Upon his return Eichhoff reported to a meeting of the Bonn Reading Society on 6 May 1815 that Beethoven had commissioned a portrait of himself for that Society, which for unknown reasons the Society never received. Considerable evidence suggests that this was Schimon's portrait, especially as the Society asserted its claim to this portrait after Beethoven's death and asked Schindler to donate it to the city of Bonn. The oval painting on canvas measures 59 by 46 centimetres and shows the composer facing the viewer in a dark blue coat and gazing towards the sky. In the background is a mountain panorama. The painting was acquired by the
Berlin City Library and has been on long-term loan to the
Beethoven House in Bonn since 1890. Other artists were inspired by Schimon's portrait, including
Carl Mittag in his drawing,
Friedrich Eduard Eichens and
Robert Reyher in their engravings,
Paul Rohrbach in a lithograph, and
Fritz Lomens in a pen drawing from 1934. == Bibliography (in German)==