MELENCOLIA I

I attended this show at the Blanton on Albrecht Durer on Saturday, and saw some of the most important woodcuts and engravings for the whole history of art. I was surprised by how much clearer the detail was when you are gazing at an actual original print made from the block or copper engraving. I have been looking at these works all of my life, such as Melencolia to the left, just in books or on the internet. The show ends on the 25th so I may go back again. The amount of detail is overwhelming for my frail eyes, worn by years of hardship. One can only speculate as to the amount of vision streaming through the spirit of Albrecht Durer, but he must have had nearly 100 % retention of his observations and readings. This is the most widely researched work of art in the entire history of art, and I got to witness it first hand. What it truly depicts is a mystery. Apparently it is a composite of many of the ideas that Durer was contemplating; the magic of Ficino, geometry and proportion, numerology, medicine, theology, cosmology, and flagrant symbolism, which was a hallmark of the Italian Renaissance. Durer is mirrowing his several visits to Italy where he absorbed these elevated notions. When I look at the angel/maiden I am seeing Boticelli`s female figues, with melifluous locks of hair, garlands, and diaphonous gowns. She is sadly peering o`er the cosmos, perhaps contemplating the fallof man or his imperfections in the face of ultimate creator? I`m seeing a nature versus civilization Hegelian diatribe, but then again I`ve had maybe one too many cups of Nicaraguan java!

10/15/2007 You can see the printer better on this Wiki page, so be sure to study it here. MELENCOLIA I Last night I read the analysis of Erwin Panofsky in his book The Life and Art of Albrecht Durer. I just got this title on Amazon, and it is an essential guide for any serious student of Mister Durer. The maiden represents intellectual profundity, it would seem, while the putti represents skill in craft, such as in the graphic art of engraving. Both are weak without one another, so thus we have the sadness of lady. Durer absorbs the medieval motifs, but gives it a Renaissance twist, with multi-extended and philosophic bent. You may want to read Panofsky`s take here (pages 157-171 the newer Princeton edition with an introduction by a UT professor, Jeffrey Chipps Smith), but needless to say, much of it has to do with the magic of Marsilio Ficino, who was able to make the meloncholy inducing planet of Saturn work for him in a positive way. I just noticed that the hourglass locks in her wings. The hourglass would be time or mortality, thus death, but she being an otherworldly creature can transcend this maybe, through contemplation of the cosmos. This has been shown to be an egotistic, narcissistic amalgamation of Durer as consummate artist, who holds both the skills of craft and the wisdom of philosphy, and thus deserves some bullions of gold to be weighed in the scales `bove the frisky putti. Speculation can abound when observing this engraving, and no doubt that Mister Durer chuckles above in the Heavenly Spheres!