The angel is quickly recognized
as the most prominent character of
MELENCOLIA I. Angels in Renaissance art
are most commonly known as mystical
robed figures with great wings, giving
away their heavenly origin. However
holy he or she may be, this particular
figure looks quite bothered, her head
resting on her hand. The angel stares
intently, but her gaze doesn’t focus on
anything in particular. She doesn’t seem
to notice the quite intense scene: the
enlightened sky, the littered objects
on the floor, nor the mysterious stone
form to her right succeed in drawing
her attention. She is a holding a set of
compasses in her right hand, but is not
using them. The angel seems passive,
frustrated and lost in thought. In such a
crowded composition, what the angel
seems to be doing is quite remarkable:
she is doing nothing. Most viewers would
recognize the angel as melancholy,
considering her passive sitting position,
the shadow on the angel’s face and the
fist on her cheek [see card: The bat].
On closer inspection the angel’s facial
expression may change. The way her lips
curl could also mean to depict a slight
smirk, as if she is on to something. Also,
the angel doesn’t look down, as was
mandatory for portraits of melancholics,
but is slightly elevated. Maybe her
pose indicates a thinker more than a
melancholic. The angel’s ambivalent
smile is puzzling. It it likely Dürer
intentionally pictured the sleeve covering
part of the angel’s lips, so that we can
only guess of her precise facial expression,
feelings or thoughts, leaving us in doubt.
Maybe the angel is melancholy, but
maybe not. If she is, is it for knowing too
little? Or too much? Or is she smiling,
thinking of a solution to her problems?
Many questions still cloud her imagery.
The angel also attributes meaning to
other elements in the work. Her sacred
wings touch the hourglass, the scales and
the magic numeral square above her. This
gives them a certain significance, or lets
Dürer show what he thinks of as ‘holy’.
[see card: The house]
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE ANGEL
The bat-like creature can be seen in the
upper left corner, about to fly out of the
picture. It carries a word and number,
together MELENCOLIA I. ­Pronounced
correctly as ‘melencolia eins’ (considering
the work’s German origin), it is known to
be the engraving’s title. Though obviously
portraying a bat, the creature has a
lizard’s tail and a typical mouse’s head.
Dürer is known for his fantastic animal
drawings, so the way he depicts the
creature is not to be seen as a mistake.
While many Devilish minions in Dürer’s
works had bat-wings and snake-tails, this
one seems like just a small verminous
nuisance, fleeing from the bright light in
the sky. This may be intended to ridicule
the creature, or perhaps the motto it
is carrying. The ­title MELENCOLIA I
partly refers to ‘melancholia’, one of the
four temperaments that were used to
describe a person’s mood, emotions and
personality. It is derived from the ancient
Greek medical concept of humorism,
which was reinstituted in humanist
philosophy by ­several Neo-Platonists
during the Renaissance. It states that the
human body is filled with four basic
substances: blood, yellow bile, phlegm
and black bile. The four temperaments
that are associated with the mixtures of
these body fluids­are sanguine, choleric,
phlegmatic and melancholic. As such,
the word melancholy is derived from the
Greek melaina cholè, literally meaning
black bile. Too much black bile was
believed to result in the ‘disease’ of
melancholia, which was of both mental
and physical nature, including symptoms
of depression, decreased activity and
interests, lowered self-esteem, or even
madness. The number ‘I’ in MELENCOLIA I
mainly­refers to the occult writings of
Dürer’s contemporary, the ­humanist
theologian and alchemist Heinrich
­Cornelius A
­ grippa von Nettesheim
(1486 - 1535).­­In his ‘De Occulta
Philosophia’, he uses the Neo-Platonist
theory of cosmology (dividing the world
in three concentric spheres) to describe
three levels of creative melancholia.
The first type, melancholia imaginativa,
a condition particularly affecting artists,
architects and artisans, causes the
‘imagination’ to predominate ‘mind’ or
‘reason’ [see card: Dürer’s Solid].
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE BAT
The bell is seen hanging in the upper
right corner of the engraving. It is
attached to the cornice of a building,
which touches the very top of the picture.
The bell is a symbol of consecration, a
charm against the powers of destruction.
It partakes of the mystic significance of
all others objects on the wall which are
suspended between heaven and earth.
The bell can be interpreted in multiple
ways. The ringing of a bell can mean
either a summons or a warning. Since it
is in a hanging position it may emphasize
the importance of the particular moment
in the scene or the time the work was
produced. When you think of the
hollow of the bell as the mouth of
the preacher, the clapper is the tongue.
Here, the clapper gives special notice
by pointing directly at a numeral square
embedded in the house’s wall. This can
indicate the square as being a protective
charm as well [see card: The magic
square]. The bell holds a rope which
trails to the right, out of the picture.
Because of this, a visual direction can be
interpreted in which the time passes. If
someone to the right pulls the rope, his
announcement will go from right to left.
This horizontal axis of time may lead to
further interpretation of other elements in
MELENCOLIA I.
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE BELL
The book can be seen held by the angel
[see card: The angel], clasped between her
right hand and leg. Books generally symbolize
some sort of attained wisdom; however
this book is closed and locked with a strap,
rendering its knowledge un­reachable to the
angel. This states melancholy, in a wider sense,
that it is a commonly accepted attribute of
students or seekers of knowledge. The book
might be the Bible or some other holy writing,
considering it belongs to the angel. Since it
it closed, this may be a Humanist statement
questioning religion, but it could also just be
another sign of the angel lacking the will or
reason to come to creation. In any case, the
closed book tells that the angel is not able to
find wisdom. [see card: The keys, and card:
The millstone]
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE BOOK
Seen at the bottom of the picture are several
kinds of artisan’s and c­ arpenter’s tools,
littered on the ground. They might have been
used by the angel, though now idle and
not treated with great care. These mundane
workman tools contrast with the scientific
instruments that are placed at the top of the
picture, nearer to the sky. In the traditional
way to use the vertical dimension, higher can
read as holier. The craft tools are then deemed
earthly. Dürer himself mastered many craft
skills while under the training of his father, a
respected goldsmith [see card: The crucible].
Having become a true master in his own
craft of engraving at the time he produced
MELENCOLIA I,­placing the carpenter’s tools
on the ground like this could be a remark
indicating some frustration or doubt on the
appreciation of his fine artistic skills [see
card: The putto].
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE CARPENTER’S
TOOLS
In her right hand, the angel holds a set
a drafting compasses, a typical tool of
geometry used for drawing circles and
taking measurements. To use compasses
one must control both points at once,
either by holding the apex or both points
seperately. The­­angel grasps only one
arm of the compass, and that near the
point. She also has no drawing board or
table beneath the point, so she cannot
be using them [see card: The angel].
Since the angel is the one holding the
compasses, Dürer may have intended
her to be a reflection or reference to
lady Geometria, who is seen with the
compasses whenever the quadrivia are
personified. The quadrivium is the higher
of two divisions of the ‘seven liberal arts’,
which categorized the different studies
in medieval education, later still used
by some Neo-Platonist philosophers and
often depicted by artists. The quadrivium
consisted of geometry, astronomy,
arithmetic and music. The argument is
supported by a clue which is found by
deconstructing the angle at which the
compasses stand. When a circle is put in
the same perspective as the compasses
in the picture, the two arms of the
compasses cover exactly a seventh part
of the circle. This stresses the number 7,
which echoes in both the seven liberal
arts as well as being commonly known
as a holy number. The compasses could
also be a reference to the architectural
act of God’s creation. But whether the
angel symbolizes Geometria or any other
kind of creator, she remains in a state of
contemplation, not acting, and perhaps
suffering a lack of inspiration [see card:
The millstone].
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE COMPASSES
The small crucible can be spotted at the
far left edge of the picture. A crucible is
used as a blacksmith’s melting cauldron.
Though in perspective it is placed higher
than the other craft tools, it still sits
on the ground, making it one of the
‘lower’ instruments [see card: The
carpenter’s tools]. But the crucible
is not idle: flames can be seen flaring
underneath it, a small detail telling the
viewer that it has some other meaning
as well. The fire is probably alluding to
Saturn, which was considered the fiery
and violent temperamental member of
the cosmology of the time. Artists, writers
and philosophers were told to be subject
to the influence of Saturn, which could
cause acute melancholia [see card:
The bat]. Dürer’s mother passed away
in the same year he started producing
­MELENCOLIA I. His father already died
in 1502 (twelve years before). Since the
young Dürer began his training under
the teaching of his father, a respected
goldsmith, the crucible is most likely
also a memento of his father or both his
parents, as a sign of mourning the recent
event. With this in mind, the position of
the crucible can confirm the horizontal
time axis the bell already suggested: the
right side being old and the left becoming
recent [see card: The bell].
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE CRUCIBLE
The dog is placed on the lower left, in
between the three stone forms. It seems
to be sleeping. To us now, dogs represent
love and fidelity. Some information on
animal symbolism of Dürer’s time is
needed to discover it’s meaning. Around
the fifth century, the Egyptian Horapollo
Niliaci, a grammarian from Phanebytis,
rendered 189 hieroglyphs into plain
Egyptian writing. A Greek translation of
this work was found in the fifteenth century. Later in 1512, Willibald Pirck­himer,
a humanist, politician and Dürer’s best
friend, translated Horapollo’s Hieroglyphica from Greek to Latin. Dürer produced
the illustrations for the book, also featuring a dog that is similar to the dog in
­MELENCOLIA I. The book states that the
Egyptians used the dog to represent
multiple things depending on context, but
in this case the most fitting is the ‘naked
dog’ (looking at the dog’s thin, boney
skin), meaning a prophet. This is most
likely true, because Dürer already used
the Hieroglyphica’s symbolism before. A
year before he worked on ­MELENCOLIA I,
Dürer was making the­design for one of
his other greatest works, The Triumphal
Arch (one of the largest woodcut prints
ever produced). Here he depicted the
Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I as a
dog with a stole, meaning ‘king’ according to the Hieroglyphica. If the dog in­
MELENCOLIA I is a prophet, then the
objects surrounding it have extra meaning.
[see cards: Dürer’s Solid, The globe,
The millstone]
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE DOG
Dürer’s Solid is the term commonly
used to name the edged stone form on
the left side of the picture. The odd shape
of the polyhedron has been debated for
centuries. One study was found showing
a transparent sketch, on which it can be
observed as an octahedron: a form with
eight faces, of which six are a pentagon
and two are triangular (the base and the
top). Many geometers have suggested
their theories on the precise form of
Dürer’s Solid, mostly discussing the corner
angles of the pentagons. Though several
of the suggested designs tend to work
when tested with prototype models and
observed from the right perspective, this
is just what gives the Solid its mystery.
No one can discover the exact form of
Dürer’s Solid, because of the one single
perspective we are to observe it from. If
there’s another image of the Solid seen
from a different point of view, a more
­accurate model construction would be
possible through perspective measurement and calculation. Considering the
optical illusions artists discovered in the
early Renaissance, the Solid could just as
well be an impossible shape rendered in
anamorphic perspective ­(a great example
of this being the skewed skull in Holbein’s
painting The Ambassadors from 1533).
Aside from it’s enigmatic geometrical
form, an even bigger mystery is the
meaning of Dürer’s Solid in the whole
composition. The Solid shares its stone
texture with two other geometrical forms
in MELENCOLIA I: the millstone in the
center and the globe on the lower left.
Together, the three surround the dog.
Because the dog symbolizes a prophet
[see card: The dog], the three forms
give themselves away as being something
greater than their mere shape. The Solid’s
mathematical nature gives notion of intellectual presence, and being the highest of
the three forms it most likely represents
the third and highest Intellectual Sphere
in the Neo-Platonic cosmology of the
time, which was based on three concentric Worlds (the other two being the
Elemental and Celestial World). Then
still it remains unclear whether the Solid
is to be interpreted as a compliment to
science or as some spiteful remark on
nature’s secrets. The ambiguity of perspective supports the latter, as to explain an
important limit to human knowledge.
­Finally, the Solid stands at the base of the
ladder in the back, connecting it with the
house’s roof [see card: The house].
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
DÜRER’S SOLID
The stone globe form in the lower left
corner lies on the ground next to the carpenter’s tools and the dog, not involved
in any action ­going on. The symbol of a
globe is also featured in other works of
­Dürer. In his engraving from ca. 1502, he
portrayed Lady Fortuna balancing on a
similar stone-textured globe. The globe
is earthly, since it is subject to physical
laws: a slight misbalance can make it
move unpredictably (also influenced by
chance or luck, thus Fortuna). Because
the dog symbolizes a prophet [see card:
The dog], the three forms give themselves away as being something greater
than their mere shape. Most likely, they
represent the Neo-Platonic cosmology
of the time, which was based on three
concentric Worlds. The globe is the
lowest of the three stone forms, standing for the Elemental World of material
[see card: Dürer’s Solid, and card:
The Millstone]. Globes are studied by
astrologists, the compasses being one tool
in this study. Some therefor say the angel
has measured the stone globe. But the
astronomer studies his globe intently
while the angel in MELENCOLIA I looks
right past this globe into space; as indeed
she would if she belonged to a higher
Neo-Platonic sphere. She also sits on a
higher platform, disconnecting her from
the lower Elemental World, to which the
globe belongs.
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE GLOBE
Behind the angel figure, the house
covers up most of the right side of the
image. In fact, its left-most wall bisects
the whole picture perfectly in half. The
house has no door, which is curious because of Dürer’s name. Dürer, a simplified
dialect homonym of Thürer, can mean
door-maker or “of Door”, in the way that
Frankfurter means “of Frankfurt”. When
the door-maker pictures a house without
a door, he is likely making a statement.
The house’s front wall extends out of
the scene to the right and holds a bell, a
magic numeral square and an hourglass.
Its side wall holds scales, hanging above
the putto boy. Look at the picture from a
further distance or squint and it changes.
The objects each create the optical illusion of a window in the house. This is
quite remarkable, since the house has no
other openings: it is sealed. The angel’s
wings can now be seen as blessing the
windows. Assembling familiar objects
from unrelated parts in this way, for example, faces from fruits, or demons from
vermin, was an optical illusion often practiced by artists of the time. Here there is
­allusion as well as illusion. The scientific
in­struments functioning as metaphorical
windows to the house’s content will give
more meaning after examining MELENCOLIA I further. [see card: The ladder]
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE HOUSE
The hourglass is widely used in Renaissance art a symbol of time, usually to
remind us that life is brief. Both of Dürer’s
other two masterpiece engravings ‘Knight,
Death and the Devil’ and ‘Saint Jerome
in his study’ also have the hourglass, in
the first as an attribute of Death. The
symbolism of transitoriness and necessity seemingly fascinated Dürer, as if he
wanted to make sure his work’s intended
viewers would notice his statements
about their time, a time in which so many
people developed new ways of thinking
and observing the world. The h­ ourglass
also tells about the passage from one
world to another [see card: Dürer’s
Solid]. Though still, the hourglass’s most
relevant contribution to MELENCOLIA I
is its function as an element of measuring,
next to the scales and magic numeral
square hanging on the houses walls [see
card: The house]. The question whether
the aspect of time in this case bodes
good or evil remains unanswered. In any
case it stresses the contrasts between past
and future and adds more weight to the
overall theme of melancholy.
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE HOURGLASS
A small thurible censer for holding incense-­
burners can be spotted on the left side of the
picture, enclosed between the dog and globe.
The traditional use of incense in religious
­ceremonies or rituals make it credible to
confirm the dog as b
­ eing a prophet [see card:
The dog]. The incense touches the globe, its
aromatic plant materials making it belong to
the ­lower Elemental World of Neo-Platonic
cosmology [see card: The globe].
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE INCENSE
A bundle of seven keys can be seen dangling from the angel’s waist. Curiously,
the only discovered text of Dürer himself
on interpretation of MELENCOLIA I
consists of two small hints: “Keys mean
power, purse means wealth”. Though this
explanation can be adopted, the keys
may of course mean much more. The
key is a common symbol of mystery or
enigma, or of a task to be performed and
the means of carrying it out. It sometimes
refers to the threshold of the unconscious.
Keys also denote liberation, knowledge,
or as a contrast to unsolvable problems.
No locks can be spotted in the picture,
but there is a house without doors [see
card: The house], as well as the closed
book. Both stand for some form of power
or knowledge, but the angel is not able
to put them to use, emphasizing her frustration. The specific amount of seven keys
echoes the compasses’ angle of a seventh
of a circle [see card: The compasses].
When the angel holds seven holy keys,
the frustration of not being able to use
them grows even more.
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE KEYS
A wooden ladder with seven steps can
be seen in the back of the picture. One
leg connects Dürer’s Solid to the top
of the house to the right. The other leg
seems to point to the dog, a visual line
extended from the ladder passing just
in between the Solid and the millstone.
An artist in Dürer’s time depicting a
ladder next to an ­angel, a house, and
an up-turned stone could be sure that
the educated viewer would see Jacob’s
ladder, angel, house and stone of Genesis
28. The two most relevant verses are:
“And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top
of it reached to heaven: and behold
the angels of God ascending and
descending on it. “
- King James Bible, Genesis 28:12
“And he was afraid, and said, How
dreadful is this place! this is none
other but the house of God, and this
is the gate of heaven. And Jacob
rose up early in the ­morning, and
took the stone that he had put for
his pillows, and set it up for a pillar,
and poured oil upon the top of it.”
- King James Bible, Genesis 28:17-18
The top of the ladder can’t be seen, so
it may be in heaven. This suggests the
ladder as a gateway to heaven, and the
building as the house of God. Ladders as
gates of heaven occurred commonly in
art of the time, including Dürer’s own.
Now, the ‘window’ illusions get more
meaning [see card: The house], as
Dürer suggests that the mathematical
disciplines allow us to ‘look into the
house of God’. Or expressed less biblical,
the ability to know absolute truth. This
juxtaposition of science and religion is
one of the main points Dürer is trying
to make in MELENCOLIA I. Now­the
house is identified as God’s house, its
median left edge dividing the picture in
two instantly corresponds with the bell’s
horizontal time axis [see card: The
bell]. If the right side is ‘old’ and the left
is ‘new’, it gives new meaning to many
objects in the picture. It is very likely
that Dürer wanted to declare the biblical
symbols of the Roman Catholic church
as outdated and stresses the importance
of re-discovered classical knowledge of
the Renaissance. Still a paradox remains,
since the tools of measurement should
then belong to the left side of the picture, not the right.
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE LADDER
The beacon of light is spotted in the
night sky, next to the bat in the upper left
corner. In what direction the light is shining is arguably ambivalent: it can be seen
as coming from the upper left corner and
going past the water to the right (like a
meteor), or as a source hanging in the sky
stationary and shining a beam to the upper left. But the light in the sky does not
function as the primary lighting source for
MELENCOLIA I, since the whole scene
isn’t lit from the far back, but from the
front (the angel and globe portray this
best). Since the sombre dark scene is set
at night, the lighting from the front must
be moonlight. Though Dürer wrote of
seeing a comet himself in 1503, the physical natures of meteors and comets were
not yet known at the time, and it was
still believed for centuries that meteors
(as the contemporary word still claims)
were of meteorological nature instead
of extraterrestrial. So the light is not be
associated with astrology. Since the Bible
has already explained other elements of
the picture, this light may find meaning
in it too. The terms “comet,” “shooting
star,” and “falling star” do not appear. The
only blinding light in the biblical sky is
the original light of the divine creation.
Then, the starless night sky as depicted
in MELENCOLIA I would recall the time
in the Bible story between the creations
of light and the stars. In this context, the
bright light could represent the divine
creation and revelation. However, the
joyous news of the world’s creation isn’t
reflected in the picture at all. Everything
stays dark and gloomy, making the light
of creation ambiguous. A straight line can
be drawn from the light through Dürer’s
Solid, ending at the globe. Considering
the three stone forms represent the three
Neo-Platonic spheres, the millstone looks
to be misplaced out of the correct lineal
order [see card: Dürer’s Solid, and
card: The globe]. Also, the brightest
lines in the light seem to point quite accurately at the putto boy centrally placed
in the image. [see card: The putto]
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE LIGHT
Beneath the bell in the upper right corner,
the 4-by-4 numeral square is filled with
consecutive numbers, 1 to 16. Adding
up any row, column or diagonals in this
magic square all give the same number
34 (one quarter the sum of the integers,
being 136). The square is based on a
similar square featured in the writings of
humanist theologian and alchemist Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim
(1486 - 1535). Agrippa assigns a magic
square to each of the seven ‘planets’ then
known, in the ancient order of Saturn,
Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, and
Moon. This is the order of their apparent periods around the Earth; in the
geocentric system the Sun acquires the
heliocentric period of the Earth. Agrippa
reserved the 1-by-1 magic square for
‘the one God’. A 2-by-2 magical square
does not exist, so the slowest planet,
Saturn, is given a 3-by-3 table. The next
slowest planet is Jupiter, which got this
4-by-4 table and so on to the 9-by-9
table of the Moon. Agrippa warned that
being ­exposed to Saturn caused acute
melancholia [see card: The bat], and
prescribed wearing the Jupiter Table as a
shield to counteract Saturnine influence
[see card: The angel]. Agrippa proved
the virtue of Jupiter’s Table by gematria,
a Hebrew numerology based on the fact
that any letter of the Hebrew alphabet
is also a number and that therefore every
Hebrew word has a number, the sum of
its letters. He used gematria to find reassuring Hebrew words in Jupiter’s Table.
Though both Dürer’s square and Agrippa’s
Jupiter Table use the same amount of
fields, they have no row or column in
common. Dürer interchanged the first row
with the last, and the first column with
the last. This changed the bottom line
to 4 - 15 - 14 - 1. This reflects the year
1514 of the engraving seen in Dürer’s signature in the lower right corner, flanked
by Dürer’s initials (Dürer, Albrecht) in
the 1=A, B=2, C=3 etc. code (Latin
gematria). Even more remarkable use
of this code is found when adding up
ALBRECHTDVRER or MELENCOLIAEINS,
which both give exactly 136, the same
number as the sum of all integers in the
magic square. It tells us something about
Dürer’s creative mind that he was able to
see these possibilities in the Jupiter Table.
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE MAGIC SQUARE
The third stone form in MELENCOLIA I
is the stone wheel in the center of the
picture on which the putto boy sits.
Some have called it a grindstone, others
a millstone. Its ­perimeter is broken, its
face is smooth. It would make a passable
millstone but an oversized bone-rattling
grindstone, so this is unlikely. Corresponding with the ladder’s theory, this is also
the only stone in the engraving that
could serve Jacob first as pillow and then
as pillar, if he could erect it, making it
a millstone [see card: The ladder]. If
Dürer’s Solid stands for the Intellectual
World [see card: Dürer’s Solid] and
the stone globe stands for the Elemental
World [see card: The globe], by elimination it would seem that the millstone
should stand for the middle Celestial
World, the realm of reason and philosophy. This representation would have to
be obvious to Dürer’s intended viewers
as well. Centuries before Dürer, cultures
as diverse as Babylon, Greece, Arabia,
Scandinavia, and Rome also represented
the Celestial World by a millstone. Later,
Galileo Galilei would too: “Next, applying this reflection about the millstone
to the stellar sphere, ...” (Galileo Galilei,
Dialogue on the Great World Systems,
revised translation 1953). The putto boy
sitting on top of the millstone denotes
some relationship to the ­Celestial World
and maybe the Intellectual World above,
seeing he is literally higher than the millstone [see card: The putto].
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE MILLSTONE
The purse is worn by the angel and can be
spotted below her left knee, just above the
saw’s blade. The only discovered text of Dürer
himself on interpretation of MELENCOLIA I­
consists of two small hints: “Keys mean
power,­purse means wealth”. While in earlier
works Dürer depicted his Madonna and his
­Venus wearing their purses and keys at the
waist, the angel drags her purse on the ground.
This denotes yet another element of power
in MELENCOLIA I that is rendered useless:
wealth is of no role to the melancholic [see
card: The carpenter’s tools, and card: The
globe].
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE PURSE
The putto is a typical figure of a human
baby or toddler, almost always male,
often naked and having wings, found
especially in Renaissance and Baroque art.
This putto boy sits on a rug draped over
the millstone in the middle of the picture.
A horizontal axis can be drawn at the
height of the putto’s face, also defined
by the ladders step, the top of Dürer’s
Solid geometrical form on the left, the
reflection of the light in the water, and
the top of the angel’s head. Combining
the median left wall of the house with
this horizontal line gives the illusion of a
visual cross, a common way to indicate
centrality in Renaissance art. The putto
is obviously the central figure, not the
prominently sized angel. The three stone
forms represent the three spheres in
Neo-Platonic cosmology, of which the
millstone is the middle Celestial World
[see card: The millstone]. In this NeoPlatonical theory, artists are granted the
imaginative skills which are part of the
lowest, Elemental World [see card:
The globe]. However, the putto is
promoted to the second Celestial sphere
by being placed above the mundane
carpenter’s tools. Since the putto is literally higher than the millstone, sitting on
top, Dürer may even have intended to
attribute him to the highest sphere, the
Intellectual World [see card: Dürer’s
Solid]. The working putto seems to be
the single element in MELENCOLIA I
showing positive activity, his mind dominating everything in the scene. In great
contrast with the angel, the putto effectively is working. He is seen creating with
a tablet on his lap. On closer inspection,
the drawing instruments are identified as
a tablet and a burin, defined by the small
bar on top of the graver tool. T­ his indicates the putto as an engraver [see card:
The tablet and burin]. But it’s hard to
see what the putto is looking at. Perhaps
he’s observing the dog. This reflects
Dürer’s own interests, his many studies on
animals being among his finest works.
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE PUTTO
The rainbow in the night’s sky is in
sheer contrast with everything else in the
picture, but it may share relevance with
the light in the distance [see card: The
light]. The bright shining light is most
likely representing the divine creation
from the Bible story, and the only bow in
the biblical sky is the “bow in the clouds”
that Noah saw after the flood, a supreme
example of divine revelation. Genesis
does not say whether Noah saw his bow
by day or by night, though Dürer had no
choice once he set the scene in the dark.
Technically, seeing a rainbow set at night
is possible and is then called a moonbow
or lunar rainbow. This spectacle is only
seen when enough light is reflected off
the surface of the moon. Because the
light is usually too faint to excite the
cone color receptors in human eyes, a
moonbow often appears to be white. In
Genesis, the light in the ­heavens and the
bow in the clouds represent two of the
great gifts of God, so the picture should
be joyous, and yet it is dark and ambiguous. Considering the horizontal time axis
[see card: The bell], we can see the
separation of old and new being inverted
upwards from the top of Dürer’s Solid. To
the left are the two acts of God and to
the right are Dürer’s scientific instruments.
This switch in perspectives only increases
the complex structure of meaning in the
composition [see card: Dürer’s Solid,
and card: The house].
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE RAINBOW
On the side wall of the house hang a pair of
chemist’s scales, just above the putto in the
center. ­Extended, their lines pass through the
vanishing point, so the scales are equilibrated.
One pan touches the putto boy, the other
the angel, putting them in balance. While the
angel sits passively in the Celestial sphere
[see card: The millstone] and the putto is
eagerly working his way up to the I­ntellectual
sphere [see card: The putto], still, both are
deemed equal. With the conclusions drawn
from the theories on the millstone and Dürer’s
Solid [see card: Dürer’s Solid], Dürer has
established a visual balance between Natural
Philosophy and Theological Philosophy.
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE SCALES
On close inspection, the tools held by
the putto boy [see card: The putto] in
the center of the image are identified as
engraving tools. The writing instrument
has a crossbar at its top, and so is not a
stylus or a piece of chalk but a burin. The
putto’s tablet­is therefore not a slate but
a copper sheet or a block of wood. It is
remarkable that Dürer made the putto’s
creative act of engraving the only true
active element in MELENCOLIA I. The
burin is commonly known as a mere
artisan’s tool, and Dürer’s life mission was
to sanctify the artist above the artisan.
To understand why Dürer is not afraid of
proclaiming his greatest talent, engraving,
we can look for clues in the title. The
Latin for burin is caelum. Dependant on
context, caelum may also mean ‘the sky’
or ‘the heavens’. It shares the same root as
the English word ‘celestial’. Caelo means
both the noun (in) Heaven and the verb
(I) engrave. The five letters in caelo fit in
MELENCOLIA I. Not counting the I at the
end, the leftover letters then give LIMEN,
commonly meaning gateway, even a
near-synonym for ‘Dürer’ [see card: The
house]. It can also mean several other
words such as gate, doorway, threshold,
walls, house, path or limit, according
to context. Together, LIMEN CAELO
becomes ‘gateway to heaven’. Curiously,
‘limen caelo’ is as bright in spirit as ‘melencolia’ is depressive. The title seems to
offer some gateway to heaven, but to
discover what it is another clue is needed.
When the flourish § or stylized S in the
title between ‘MELENCOLIA’ and ‘I’ is
read as an actual S, another anagram can
be derived: LIMEN SI CAELO, meaning
‘I engrave at the wall’ or ‘I engrave the
gateway’. This clearly solves the hidden
puzzle of the engraving, unmistakably
proclaiming Dürer’s thoughts on the intellectual aspects of the artist. It is then also
arguable that the depicted putto boy is
his spiritual self-portrait, trying to sanctify
the graphic arts, but disguising his intentions in the image of a young boy.
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE TABLET
AND BURIN
In the far distance, looking past the ladder, lies a town at sea. For a clue on
what it could mean, a very small and ambiguous detail can be spotted just above
the most right part of the town. Over the
left-most pan of the scales and past the
ladder’s leg, very fine parallel wavy lines
flow from behind the house leftward into
a great wave that looms over the town,
about to crash down on it and wipe it
out. It is easy to overlook the wave from
a regular sized copy of MELENCOLIA I,
and impossible to recognize as a wave
instead of a shoreline without enlarging
the picture so that the fine engraving lines
become visible. The meaning of both the
light and the rainbow is derived from
biblical clues [see card: The light, and
card: The rainbow], so a town crushed
by waves might be found as well.
One verse states:
“And a mighty angel took up a stone
like a great millstone, and cast it into
the sea, saying, Thus with violence
shall that great city Babylon be
thrown down, and shall be found no
more at all”
- Revelation 18:21, King James Bible
Four elements of the engraving are spotted in the verse: the mighty angel, the
millstone, the sea, and even a kind of
melancholia, for Revelation imbeds this
account in a score of verses lamenting the
destruction to come. It does not really­
matter whether the town is ­actually
depicting the Babylon city, since the
destructive power of the flood’s wave
also has connections with the rainbow’s
theoretical origin. In any case, the small
destructive detail adds more weight to
the overall theme of melancholy.
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE TOWN
The angel in MELENCOLIA I is crowned
with a wreath of woven plants, of which
the small leaves can be identified as water
ranunculus and watercress. The watery nature
of the plants counteract the earthly dryness
­associated with the Saturnine temperament
of melancholia, which was defined in NeoPlatonist medicine as a mixture of four body
fluids [see card: The bat]. Being exposed
to Saturn was believed to cause acute melancholia, often affecting artists, ­writers and
philosophers. Both the watery wreath and the
magic square [see card: The magic square]
shield the bearer from the influence of Saturn.
This further questions the angel’s condition,
because if she is actually protected and not
affected by melancholia, why is she seen in
this particular state in between doubt and
creation? [see card: The angel]
Part of a series in 2011 graduation project of Timo Demollin MELANCHOLIA: THE WHOLE, THE SUM, THE PARTS. www.wilfredtimo.com
THE WATERCRESS
WREATH