Bach and His

This paper examines the career of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and the role played by Wilhelm His I (who was, with Albert von Haller, a noted pioneer of physiology) in the exhumation of Bach's remains in 1894. His's examination of these remains allowed the sculptor Carl Seffner to produce the celebrated statue of Bach which stands outside the church of St Thomas in Leipzig, where the composer was employed from 1723 until his death. Modern forensic techniques have recently enabled Bach's image to be reconstructed in even more spectacular detail.