engraving
1602
23.8 x 18.9 cm
Bartsch 74; Mauquoy-Hendrickx 1556; Hollstein 2000, first and final state [1]
A good impression, printing with strong contrast and depth, the signature and the date trimmed off (as often is the case with this print), trimmed irregularly, trimmed within the image at the upper edge, the sheet is in otherwise generally good condition


The high point of the Dürer’s engraved œuvre, Melancolia I is one of the most discussed and interpreted artworks in the history of Western art. Engraved in 1514, it has had a profound impact not only on artists from Dürer’s generation, but on every generation of artists since. The engraving is one of Dürer’s three so-called Meisterstiche, the other two being Knight, Death and the Devil (1513) and Saint Jerome in His Study (1514). While not conceived as a series, each print represents one of the three forms of virtuous living: moral (Knight, Death and the Devil), intellectual (Melancolia I) and theological (Saint Jerome in His Study). In medieval philosophy, each individual was thought to be dominated by one of the four temperaments: sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic. Melancholy, considered the least desirable of the four, was associated with black gall and melancholics were considered the most likely to succumb to insanity. However, melancholic temperament was also associated with creative genius and the pursuit of knowledge. The latter is depicted in Dürer’s Melancolia I which shows the artist’s intellectual situation and could, as such, be considered as a self-portrait or indeed of the artist in general.

The complex composition shows a personification of Melancholy in the classic pose of the thinker, holding a compass, with behind her a putto writing on a tablet. Scattered around her are a large variety of tools and objects. Amongst them are tools associated with geometry (one of the seven liberal arts that underlies artistic creation), an hour glass (serving as a memento mori), a magic square (of which each row amounts to a total of 34), scales, a melting pot, a polyhedron amongst others. At the upper left one observes a meteorite, a rainbow and a bat holding the print’s title. The number ‘I’ probably refers to the hierarchy of the three categories of genius (rather than a number of a series) – the arts being the first, reason the second and spirit the third – as described in Cornelis Agrippa’s De Occulta Philosophia. Rich with objects and symbolism, the intricate image of Melancolia I reflects the multifaceted nature of Renaissance humanist thought. This may, in fact, be the print’s true purpose: to remain open to interpretation, deliberately encouraging speculation and debate, rather than presenting a riddle to be definitively solved.

That Melancolia I’s fame had not waned some 100 years later, is confirmed by Johannes Wierix’s exceptionally intricate engraving after it. Wierix’s engraving is another tour de force of engraving, demonstrating the artist’s exceptional control of the burin as the print copies Dürer’s print line for line with astonishing precision. Despite this, Wierix’s print has a different visual impact than Dürer’s Melancolia I as its lines are sharper, creating more depth than Dürer’s more subtly cut engraving. Another difference is that Wierix did not include the ‘I’ in the banner with the print’s title held by the bat upper left.

Wierix probably made his copy after Dürer’s print for commercial reasons – together with his brother Hieronymus he produced 50 copies after Dürer prints – but he probably also considered the work an artistic challenge, and indeed a triumph, as he neatly signed and dated his version in his characteristic minute letters. Over the centuries, however, unscrupulous collectors and dealers often trimmed off Wierix’s signature in order to sell the print to unsuspecting buyers as an original work by Dürer.

[1] Z. van Ruyven-Zeman, 'Hollstein’s Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts. 1450-1700. Volume LXVII. The Wierix Family. Part IX', Rotterdam, 2004, p. 144.