Hidden secret designs of the magnificent Dürer engraving "Melancholy", created 500 years ago

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

Albrecht Dürer's enigmatic copper engraving Melancholy has inspired art lovers for a millennium and a half. The plot of the engraving, as it is written on a scroll unfolded by a bat, is melancholy.

About the artist

Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) is one of the few artists who truly deserve the title of genius. Dürer, one of the greatest German painters, was also an engraver, draftsman and theorist. He is largely credited with the birth of the Italian Renaissance in Northern Europe. In addition, the most important contribution of Dürer is the revolution of print production and bringing it to an independent art form.

Dürer in his engraving "Melancholy", created in 1514, reveals the theme of melancholy. This is one of the most important prints by Dürer, which is associated with alchemy, astrology, theology and philosophy. What exactly Dürer meant by the term melancholy, and how mysterious figures and objects contribute to it, continues to generate controversy.

Heroine "Melancholy"

The main central figure in a fluffy dress sits on the step. The rough appearance allows the figure to be considered androgynous: the feminine pronoun is perhaps used here in accordance with the genus of the word melancholy, but some art critics consider this figure to be masculine. In addition, this central figure gave rise to other controversies: some see in her a strong woman with wings, others - a guardian angel, others - Dürer himself. The figure has a massive body, strong arms, large regular facial features. "Melancholy" is motionless and thoughtful. Her face is a mask of darkness, but her bright eyes sparkle, displaying a sharpness of mind that contrasts with her tortured posture. A wreath of leaves overshadowing her head, wings billowing behind her shoulders emphasize the symbolism of this image - this is an allegory. The wreath is made from a plant thought to be a cure for melancholy. Melancholy wants to fly, but too heavy for her tiny wings to lift.

With all the variety of symbolic objects, the heroine is inactive. She is concentrating on certain tasks. Carpentry tools are scattered on the ground. Her creative frustration makes her unable to complete basic tasks like feeding an emaciated dog that has lost weight from neglect. The hand holds the cheek, and the elbow rests on the knee. The deepest thoughtfulness of the heroine hides the strongest tension. The explanation for everything is given by the bat, or rather, by the cartouche that it carries. Flying soap - the messenger of the night - enhances the drama of the plot. MELANCHOLIA (woman incapable of action) is written on the cartouche.

Minor characters and engraving items

A skinny greyhound dog is a symbol of a melancholic temperament. Another important character - a boy with wings (putto) - was a harbinger of an earthly or angelic spirit. This image often appears in Renaissance and Baroque painting and goes back to the antique figures of cupids and cupids (therefore this image is also called Amoretto). Scattered tools, compasses in the hands of a woman are associated with land and measuring work (Saturn is the god of the earth). A plane and a saw in front of a woman, a millstone with an angel sitting on it, a hammer behind a dog - the personification of physical labor. The staircase leans against the building, which supports the balance, hourglass and bell. The magic square is inscribed on the wall. The numbers in each row, column and diagonals add up to 34. The magic square 4 × 4 is considered the earliest in European art, and it was Dürer who created it. In the background, a sparkling star or comet illuminates a seascape topped with a rainbow. Similar bodies appeared in writings on magic, and in astrology they were a symbol of the world and the universe. The hourglass and the bell have always meant for Dürer: "Remember death."

Melancholic temperament

According to medieval scientists, the temperament of a melancholic is determined by the excess content of black bile in the body, as well as the chilling influence of Saturn, the lord of cold and darkness. The most sad and dangerous temperament was considered to be the melancholic (from the Greek melas chole - black bile), which corresponded to the cold and dry element "earth", autumn, harsh north wind and evening. At all times, melancholy was considered the least desirable of the four types of temperaments that govern human behavior. It is believed that melancholic people are especially prone to insanity. The Renaissance, however, rethought the notion of melancholy. In that era, it was believed that melancholic people were creative geniuses.

A person under the influence of this planet is at worst a slacker, at best a weak-willed creature. A typical melancholic is Dürer's heroine, who thinks endlessly instead of finally taking up her tools and starting to act. The heroine is not cheerful, does not indulge in sweet laziness and idle dreams. She is absorbed in intense inner work, she is obsessed with eternal doubts (this is emphasized by the unfeminine frown).

Versions about the solution to the picture

Perhaps the most common version of the plot is that the engraving represents the melancholy of a creative impulse and that it is a spiritual self-portrait of Dürer himself. Dürer considered himself a melancholic, which also allows us to consider this engraving a spiritual self-portrait of the master. Dürer's intelligence, introspection, and unrelenting perfectionism may have led him to melancholy.

Why is Melancholy depicted as winged? Is it a man or a woman? What does her inactivity mean and what is the real meaning of the magic square? How many questions and riddles. And each viewer can find their own interpretation. One thing is absolutely clear to us - the power of this engraving from 1514 is amazing.