Melancholia I

Albrecht Dürer, 1514

engraving, 31 × 26 cm

Melencolia I, often known as Melancholia I (using the modern spelling) is an engraving by the German Renaissance master Albrecht Dürer. It is an allegorical composition which has been the subject of very many interpretations. One of the most famous old master prints, it has sometimes been regarded as forming one of a conscious group of meisterstreich with his St Jerome in his study (1514) and the Knight, Death and the Devil (1513). Image File history File links Size of this preview: 464 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (2196 × 2835 pixel, file size: 2. ... Albrecht Dürer (pronounced /al. ... 1514 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ... Albrecht Dürer (pronounced /al. ... An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, other, and αγορευειν, agoreuein, to speak in public) is a figurative representation conveying a meaning other than and in addition to the literal. ... The term Old Master Print is used to describe works of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition (European or New World). ...

It has been the subject of more modern interpretation than almost any other image in art, including a two volume book by Peter-Klaus Schuster, and a very influential discussion in his Dürer monograph by Erwin Panofsky. It should be noted that reproduction usually makes the image seem darker than it is in an original impression (copy) of the engraving, and in particular affects the facial expression of the female figure, which is rather more cheerful than in most reproductions. Erwin Panofsky (1892-1968) was a German art historian and essayist often credited with the founding of the academic iconography. ...

The title comes from the (unusually spelled) title, Melencolia I, appearing within the engraving itself. It is the only one of Dürer's engravings to have a title in the plate. The date of 1514 appears in the bottom row of the magic square, as well as above Dürer's monogram at bottom right. Suggestions that a series of engravings on the subject was planned are not generally accepted. Instead it seems more likely that the "I" refers to the first of the three types of melancholy defined by the German humanist writer Cornelius Agrippa. In this type, Melencholia Imaginativa, which he held artists to be subject to, 'imagination' predominates over 'mind' or 'reason'. Cornelius Agrippa, as portrayed in Libri tres de occulta philosophia Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (born in Köln September 14, 1486 - died in Grenoble February 18, 1535) was a magician and occult writer, astrologer, and alchemist. ...

The most obvious interpretation takes the image to be about the depressive or melancholy state and accordingly explains various elements of the picture. Among the most conspicuous are: Clinical depression (also called major depressive disorder, or sometimes unipolar when compared with bipolar disorder, which is sometimes called manic depression) is a state of intense sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individuals social functioning and/or activities of daily... Melancholia (Greek μελαγχολια) was described as a distinct disease as early as the fifth and fourth centuries BC in the Hippocratic writings. ...

• The tools of geometry and architecture surround him, unused
• The 4 × 4 magic square, with the two middle cells of the bottom row giving the date of the engraving: 1514.
• The truncated rhombohedron,^[1], which has been the subject of numerous articles
• The hourglass showing time running out
• The unbalanced scale despite lack of contained substance
• The despondent winged figure of genius
• The purse and keys
• The comet and rainbow in the sky
• Mathematical knowledge is referenced by the use of the symbols: compass, geometrical solid, magic square, scale, hourglass

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One interpretation of this etching is that it represents the frustrations of an individual trying to invent something ingenious but failing at the task, and feeling depression or melancholy as a result. In the woodcut are various symbols of scientific reasoning, such as numerical patterns (the number square) and scientific measuring tools (the weight balance and the hour-glass for precise time measurement). A hammer represents a tool that would be used to manufacture an actual product based on the ingenius idea. The dog and the baby angel represent those who patiently encourage the genius, but eventually fall asleep, bored, after waiting hours for the genius to come up with a new idea. The frustrated genius lies awake in the after hours, determined not to sleep until the new idea arrives. For Durer, thinking ingeniously is inextricably linked to thinking scientifically, and the emotional frustration of failing to conceive of a new idea is inextricably linked to melancholy. In the distance, a bright and optimistic sun symbolizes the ideal world that the genius could help make accessible if he or she conceived of a great new idea. That sun is also setting, symbolizing that hours have passed and the genius still has not conceived of anything new. Durer places three shapes in his engraving--a sphere, an irregular three-dimensional polyhedron, and a wheel--that symbolize the thought process of genius. The sphere represents a stereotypically perfect concept or mathematical form, something that is conceptually obvious and conceptually commonplace; the genius sees these kinds of "obvious," symettrical forms every day and understands that he or she must think "outside of the box" and come up with an idea that is not obvious like these symmetrical, pre-existing forms. The wheel (on which the baby angel is sitting) represents a successful product of genius; scientifically definable, useful, innovative, it serves as an object of inspiration for the genius; it symbolizes the genius's goal: ideally to create something as useful as the wheel. The irregular polyhedron symbolizes an unrefined intermediate product of genius. It is conceptually more original than the sphere, but is not as useful or as scientifically defined as the wheel. Perhaps with further conceptual refinement, the genius can turn this irregular form into something as practical, useful and ingenius as the wheel. But, for now, the genius has run out of ideas, and may conclude that the irregular polyhedron has no further potential as an idea and must be discarded and an entirely new idea persued. The bell in the top right hand corner symbolizes the alarm that would be rung to triumphantly announce to the entire world that a new idea has been invented, if, that is, the genius is able to emerge from the state of frustration and finally invent that new idea. For the time being, the bell is silent and all are asleep, except for the frustrated, still-determined genius.^{[citation needed]} It has been suggested that Date magic square be merged into this article or section. ... 1514 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The n-sided trapezohedron or deltohedron is the dual polyhedron of a regular n-sided antiprism. ... Hourglass in wooden stand An hourglass, also known as a sandglass or sand timer, is a device for the measurement of time. ... In Roman mythology, every man had a genius and every woman a juno (Juno was also the name for the queen of the gods). ... Image File history File links Circle-question. ... Grieving Thai females. ... Melancholia (Greek μελαγχολια) was described as a distinct disease as early as the fifth and fourth centuries BC in the Hippocratic writings. ...

References

1. ^ http://mathworld.wolfram.com/DuerersSolid.html

External links

• Feature from UCLA's Grunman Centre
• Article on the use of symbolism in Melancholia I
• Another set of interpretations of imagery in Melancholia I
• And another..(shortened version of Walter Strauss)
• A larger version of Melancholia I
• An even larger version (2 megs)
• A discussion of Dürer's studies of polyhedra
• David Finkelstein, Melencolia I: The Postmodern Art of Albrecht Dürer (a physicist's attempt at art history, 10MB)
• An alchemist's interpretation of Melancholia
• "Dürer's Melancholia": a sonnet by Edward Dowden
• "Melancholia I" (Giraffe Cartoon)