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Albrecht Dürer: Melancholia

by Art Courier

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遊俠 you xia

Albrecht Dürer was one of the greatest masters of the Northern Renaissance. Melencolia I is a depiction of the intellectual situation of the artist and is thus, by extension, a spiritual self-portrait of Dürer. Don´t forget to click on the Contribute Mode button[ ✎] on the right side of this website for more detailed descriptions and stories about Dürer´s works.

Dürer's 〈Melencolia I〉 is one of three large prints of 1513–14 known as his Meisterstiche (master engravings). The other two are 〈Knight, Death, and the Devil〉 and 〈Saint Jerome in His Study〉. Though they do not form a series in the strict sense, the prints do correspond to the three kinds of virtue in medieval scholasticism—moral, theological, and intellectual—and they embody the complexity of Dürer's conception. Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), Melencolia I, 1514. Engraving, 9 1/2 x 7 3/8 in. (24 x 18.5 cm) Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1943.

The second Meisterstiche series 〈Knight, Death, and the Devil〉1513, Engraving, 9.6 in × 7.5 in. (24.5 cm × 19.1 cm) Currenly held in mulple locations.

The third Meisterstiche series 〈Saint Jerome in His Study〉1514, Engraving, 9.7 in × 7.4 in. (24.7 cm × 18.8 cm) Current location: Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden.

Nude Self-Portrait, 1500-05, pen, brush and black ink, heightened with white, on green prepared paper, 29.1 x 15.3 cm, Stiftung Weimarer Klassik und Kunstsammlungen, Schlossmuseum, Graphische Sammlung, Weimar.

Self-portrait in a Fur-Collared Robe, 1500, oil on linden wood, Collection: Alte Pinakothek, München.