Open full image Pin

Melencolia I

Albrecht Dürer

1514

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Renaissance Renaissance Allegory

Dominant colour

Melencolia I is a 1514 by Albrecht Dürer, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Albrecht Dürer
When & what style?: 1514 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a winged woman sitting slumped, surrounded by tools—a compass, a hammer, a ladder, a magic square. A bat-like creature holds a banner above her. The scene feels still, like time stopped. This is Dürer’s take on melancholy, the old idea that deep thought could weigh you down. The woman isn’t lazy; she’s stuck in her own mind. The tools around her were meant for building or measuring, but she can’t use them. To see how other artists showed moods like this, look up *chiaroscuro*—the way light and shadow shape feelings in paintings.

The story of this work

Overview

Although the title indentifies the subject as melancholy, the means by which Dürer demonstrates this emotional state is complex, making Melencolia I the most analyzed and discussed of Dürer’s works. Dürer personifies melancholy as a formidable female—her power originates in her ability to alter a man’s temperament into a melancholic state. Immobilized by her lack of creativity, the winged goddess sits dispiritedly surrounded by the tools and instruments she has lost the inspiration to use. Among intellectuals, melancholy was often associated with introspective, educated people, even genius.…

Read the full account in the museum source.