"Lottens Porträt habe ich dreimal angefangen, und habe mich dreimal prostituiert . . . . Darauf habe ich denn ihren Schattenriss gemacht, und damit soll mir g'nügen." (August 22)
"I have begun Lotte's portrait three times and have three times failed . . . . Afterwards I made her silhouette, and with that alone I shall have to be content." (Trans. Dillon Ford)
Much has been made of the possible connection between actual flesh-and-blood human beings and the characters in Goethe's Werther. It is known, for example, that on 9 June 1772, after completng his legal studies, Goethe attended a ball in Wetzlar where he was introduced to the nineteen-year-old Charlotte Buff. Goethe felt an instant attraction for the young woman although, like Werther's beloved Lotte, Charlotte was already engaged to be married. She tactfully rejected his advances, and on 11 September Goethe left without bidding her a final farewell.
Among the numerous drawings Goethe produced is this charming "Lady at a Spinet" (1772-75), which recalls Werther's eminently musical Lotte seated at the keyboard.
