What secret signs did the artist-mathematician Albrecht Durer encrypt in his 5 famous engravings?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Albrecht Dürer is a renowned German Renaissance painter, mathematician and art theorist. The legacy that he left is striking in scale and beauty. The creator created altar paintings, self-portraits, portraits, engravings, treatises, bookplates, as well as works on the theoretical part of painting.

His masterpieces are of great artistic value, along with the work of many creators of the Italian Renaissance. Dürer is considered the "Northern Leonardo da Vinci". The artist combined in his works the humanism of the Italian Renaissance with the spiritual power of the German Gothic. Most of his works are portraits. The artist chose the background so as not to distract from the most important thing - the model's face. It combines German detailing and Italian focus on the inner world of a person. This article will reveal the secret of what symbols and signs the artist encrypted in his mysterious engravings.

Adam and Eve

This engraving is considered one of the favorite works of Dürer himself. He was so proud of her that he indicated his authorship right in the center of the composition itself. On the branch where the parrot sits, there is a sign with the inscription: "Albrecht Durer did it in 1504". The plot of this engraving refers us to the events described in the Bible, which tells about the eating of the forbidden, but such alluring fruit by Adam and Eve.

Traveling to his beloved Italy, Dürer studied various ancient statues and works of the foremost masters of this country. Their effect is evident in the traditional anatomical depiction of the figures in the engraving. Researchers are aware of a large number of theoretical works by Albrecht Durer about the image of people. The most voluminous of which is considered a treatise written in 1512, entitled "Four books on human proportions." By the way, Dürer later reworked it, supplemented and changed it more than once.

Next to the ancestors of all mankind, the artist depicted a couple of significant details. This engraving is no coincidence. For example, the depicted four animals mean four types of temperament. The cat is the personification of the choleric, prone to rage and pride. Elk is a melancholic who is characterized by greed and despair. The bull is a phlegmatic person whose sins are despondency and gluttony. The rabbit is a sanguine person who is driven by lust.

The ancient Greeks found out which of the four types of temperament a person belongs to, figuring out which fluid predominates in his body: lymph (phlegmatic), blood (sanguine), black (melancholic) or yellow bile (choleric). There is a theory that initially all these liquids were in ideal proportion, but after eating the forbidden fruit, this balance was violated, and people drowned in various sins.

The mouse in this engraving at the feet of Adam, not noticing the cat, ready to attack her at any suitable moment, personifies himself, not thinking about the results of his actions. And the serpent, located on the tree of knowledge, which is depicted behind Eve's back, symbolizes various temptations and deceit. The parrot depicted opposite him is the personification of goodness, wisdom and well-being. He sits on the branch of the tree of life, to which Adam is holding. There is an opinion that the goat depicted above in the mountains is a chamois, which symbolizes the eye of God.

Melancholy

This engraving is probably the most mysterious and significant of its kind, it has no equal. Due to the high concentration of symbols, it is considered one of the most significant puzzles in the entire history of art. Many scientists of various sciences, including philosophy, history, mathematics, geography, deciphered this engraving piece by piece, using the data of their knowledge.

This work gets its name from the inscription "Melencolia I" on the wings of a bat. What the symbol "I" means is still unclear. Art critics still have two versions. It can be the usual number one or the abbreviation for the owl "ire", which means "to let go." Therefore, the essence of this work may be explained as "Melancholy, go away!"

Melancholy, as described in the previous engraving, is one of the four types of temperament. Moreover, from the point of view of scientists-philosophers of antiquity, such a temperament is the most dangerous, because it often caused depression, as well as other diseases. In this engraving, melancholy itself is denoted by a girl who has a wreath of water flowers on her head, used in the old days as a remedy for melancholy, because this ailment was associated with dryness and earth.

The girl has keys and a wallet hanging on her hip, which mean wealth and power. It is believed that the melancholy girl asked all this from the god Saturn, because he endowed people with power. By the way, he was also considered a representative of a melancholic temperament. A dog sleeping next to a girl, curled up in a ball, also symbolizes a melancholic type of temperament.

Behind the girl is another character - a little Cupid. Moreover, he does not flutter in search of a victim, which will be struck by his love arrows, but took a nap while reading a book. Most likely, with such an unusual state of this cute chubby, Durer showed his melancholic moods, where passions and desires subside, fading into the background.

It is no coincidence that the artist depicted symbols of scientific knowledge in this engraving, since in the 15th - 16th centuries the very idea of praising the human mind was quite popular. Hence, such objects as the compass and the book, representing geometry, appeared here; rhombohedron and ball - architecture; and the hourglass and scales are the measurement of time and measure. However, all the items presented are not enough to solve and understand the numerous mysteries of the universe, because of this Melancholy is saddened and does not want to do anything. Scientific and creative search is endless and incomprehensible, it is symbolized by the millstone, which is at the center of this work.

Knight, Death and Devil

The action takes place in a dark forest, as if from nightmares. Bare tree trunks, thorny twigs, a rocky path and scattered skulls are everywhere. A knight dressed in armor rides along this path on his horse. Many researchers believe that when creating the image of the knight, the artist was inspired by the statue of the Italian condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni, which Durer spotted during one of his trips to Venice.

The image of the knight, portrayed by Albrecht Durer, is primarily associated with a real Christian warrior described by the philosopher Erasmus in an essay called "The Guide of the Warrior of Christ." In it, the author calls on all men not to be afraid of difficulties and dangers, but to believe in themselves and God, and go only forward. The knight sits on a horse, in the tail and mane of which oak leaves are woven, as a sign of strength and power of spirit. The upper part of this engraving depicts a fortress on top of a mountain, denoting the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the final, one might say, the main goal on the life path of any Christian …

Behind the back of the knight on the right, the Devil himself creeps up, represented with a boar's face and large ram horns. But the knight proudly drives by, not turning around to his fears. On the left rides Death, represented in this engraving in the form of a revived dead man, whose face is half rotten so that the holes of the nose and eye sockets can be seen. On the head of Death is a crown, around the teeth of which snakes curl like grave worms.

Death will raise an hourglass in the face of the knight, reminding of the brevity of human life, and also that no one can escape the end. The dog accompanying the knight is his only friend and positive hero, in this engraving, which is a symbol of loyalty. He has to run to keep up with his master in this terrible forest. The knight shows his complete disdain for danger and doubt. The majesty of a person who is able to cope with the fear of death, as well as overcome his vices - this is the main idea of this engraving.

Sea monster

Initially, the artist called this work "sea miracle", but this engraving got into the history of art under the name "Sea monster". Scientists are still debating about the true meaning laid down by Dürer in this work. The main characters here are a monster that looks like a water monster from famous Russian fairy tales, as well as a girl whom he is trying to take away and kidnap. The girl's hairstyle is very complex, in the fashion of the times of Dürer. What is remarkable, the girl's face is calm and calm, she does not try to resist the monster. There is also another hero, a man running to the sea, who is very similar to the main character from another engraving called "The Turk's Family".

Throughout the history of art, there have been enough similar storylines, for example, Neptune and Amimon, the abduction of Deianira, as well as other famous paintings. Perhaps, in his trips to his beloved Italy, Albrecht was inspired by the numerous sarcophagi, which often depict underwater demigods or other inhabitants of the water. Art critics also believe that the artist may have borrowed such a plot from German folklore or medieval literature. This assumption was made after a detailed study of the background of this work. The architecture of the city on the top of the hill is purely German, with detailed classic half-timbered houses.

But the most interesting thing about this engraving is that if you find the point correctly and look from the distance that the master expected, you can see how everything on it comes to life. It becomes clear how the monster cuts the water surface, floating forward, and the cliff with the castle opposite is removed. All this sense of movement comes from the location of all the details and characters. The girl and the monster are slightly shifted to the right, in comparison with the vertical axis of the engraving, and the cliff with the castle is to the left. Therefore, those who often admire the engraving do not think about the secrets laid down by the author, but admire the miracle when the motionless begins to move.

Saint Jerome in his cell

In this engraving, the central character is the canonized theologian Jerome. He lived in the 4th century in Rome. Jerome studied philosophy, and over time was baptized, after which he left everything worldly in the past, starting to live as a hermit in a monastery. Saint Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, and the church in 1546 recognized his version as the only correct one.

There is a legend that once a lion wandered into the monastery. And all the monks fled in horror, and only Jerome saw that this predator was limping. He went up to the suffering beast and pulled a splinter out of his paw. From that moment on, this king of beasts followed his hero-savior everywhere, as can be seen in this engraving.

In this work, the artist emphasized the modesty and simplicity of Jerome. This is indicated by the cardinal's hat hanging on the wall. The saint was once offered to become a cardinal, but he did not agree, choosing for himself the work of a philosopher and scientist. He decided to live in seclusion, dedicating himself to God.

The image in the cell of such objects as books, an hourglass, a skull, various flasks and vessels on the shelves hint that this is an alchemist's workshop. And the steady horizontal lines and compositions emphasize the mood of absolute peace. It is as if it can be seen here that an imperturbable silence reigns. This engraving is the embodiment of the image of pure and clear human thought. This is the path to holiness through humility, contemplation and, of course, sincere prayer.

If you want to know even more interesting things, then you can find out what it is the secret of the ancient ring "Memento Mori", which archaeologists recently discovered in a treasure chest.