Albrecht Dürer

Melencolia I is a large 1514 engraving by the Albrecht Dürer, which was printed by the artist in two states. After Dürer’s death, there are also records of sixteenth century copies, made by Clement de Jonghe, as well as Wierx (who omitted the small details) and by at least two other anonymous engravers. McClelland holds a version in which there are some strong anomalies that do not appear to occur elsewhere, or at least in these known prints, suggesting that it is a later copy. The print's central subject is a winged female figure thought to be a personification of melancholy. Holding her head in her hand, she stares past the busy scene in front of her. The area is strewn with symbols and tools associated with craft and carpentry, including an hourglass, weighing scales, a hand plane, a claw hammer, and a saw. Other objects relate to alchemy, geometry or numerology. Behind the figure is a structure with an embedded magic square, and a ladder leading beyond the frame. The sky contains a rainbow, a comet or planet, and a bat-like creature bearing the text that has become the print's title.

Melencolia I is one of Dürer's most famous engravings. However, despite a vast art-historical literature, it has resisted any definitive interpretation. Dürer may have associated melancholia with creative activity; the woman may be a representation of a muse, awaiting inspiration but fearful that it will not return. As such, Dürer may have intended the print as a veiled self-portrait. Other art historians see the figure as pondering the nature of beauty or the value of artistic creativity in light of rationalism, or as a purposely obscure work that highlights the limitations of allegorical or symbolic art.