The celestial phenomena in A. Dürer's engraving Melancholia I

The celestial body of Dürer's engraving Melencolia I is connected with his painting of a meteor, the Raveningham-painting; it is shown that the origin of this painting owns to the impact of the meteor of Ensisheim in 1492. Until now the celestial body, the balance, and the magic square are near...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSudhoffs Archiv Vol. 93; no. 2; p. 127
Main Author Weitzel, Hans
Format Journal Article
LanguageGerman
Published Germany 2009
Subjects
Astronomical Phenomena
Depressive Disorder - history
Engraving and Engravings - history
Female
Germany
History, 16th Century
Humans
Medicine in the Arts
Meteoroids
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Summary:The celestial body of Dürer's engraving Melencolia I is connected with his painting of a meteor, the Raveningham-painting; it is shown that the origin of this painting owns to the impact of the meteor of Ensisheim in 1492. Until now the celestial body, the balance, and the magic square are nearly consistently interpreted as the planet Saturn, the zodiac sign Libra, and the planet Jupiter, and the melancholy woman is subject to these heavenly bodies. Consequently, neoplatonic astrology has been the main focus of the engraving; including the rainbow, the engraving has also been interpreted biblically. The present paper, however, places emphasis on problems of the geometry as the reason of melancholy. Any astronomical meaning of the configuration of the numbers of the magic square is discarded.
ISSN:0039-4564