Why it matters
A gloomy winged woman sits with her head in her hand amid tools, an hourglass, scales, a magic square and a ladder leading out of the picture. Despite a vast literature, Dürer's 1514 engraving has resisted any definitive interpretation.
Did you know?
- It is one of the best-known surviving old master prints.
- The title appears on the wings of a bat-like creature in the sky.
- Some see it as a veiled self-portrait of an artist awaiting inspiration.
- Erwin Panofsky's writing on the print has received the most attention.
Based on the Wikipedia article Melencolia I (CC BY-SA 4.0).
