Melencolia I was created by Albrecht Dürer–the German Renaissance artist, at the beginning of sixteenth century. Albrecht Dürer was a painter, printmaker, and writer. He was also known for his effort to represent the bodies of humans and animals accurately.
Melencolia I illustrates the androgynous personification of Melancholy who sits and rests her head in hand. One of her hands holds a caliper. Around her, many tools related to geometry were scattered and untouched. Geometry is one of the seven liberal arts that underlies artistic creation. Melencolia I symbolizes the mind situation of the artist and his era.
Melancholy is one of the four humors that influences the human body and its emotions, particularly, tend to be detail-oriented deep thinkers and feelers. These four bodily humors (Melancholic, Phlegmatic, Choleric, Sanguine) that were used in modern medical science and psychology, were inherited from the ancient Greek philosophers, such as Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Galen.
In medieval philosophy, melancholy was the most avoided of the four humors because it is close to the surrender to insanity. However, in Renaissance philosophy, melancholy was associated with creative genius, as a driving force in art creation.
Melencolia I is an ironic image that depicts the strong and creative melancholia sitting down and gazing at her artwork materials. It could be a symbol of Dürer’s frustration in his artistic career. It could also illustrate the condition of the German artists in Dürer’s era. During his journey to Italy, he found that Italian artists’ expressive identities have been recognized and rewarded as high social status, while German artists-although still respectable- are the anonymous artist.
The roman number “I” in the title indicates melancholia imaginativa -the first type of melacholic genius, as it is explained in De Occulta Philosophia of Cornelius Agrippa. Melancholia imaginativa indicates that humans can invent, built, think but has no access to the metaphysical world. Melencolia I is also a depiction of the limit of creativity and thoughts of humans.
Dürer’s artwork is captivating for its details in drawing and the philosophy behind it. Melencolia I and other famous drawings of Albrecht Dürer can be seen at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, from 20 June 2020 – 18 October 2020.
After the easing of Coronavirus-related restrictions in Hungary, the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest has been opened again from 20th June 2020, with the temporary rules and measures such as wear a face mask and keep a distance from other people.