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Catalog Data

Print Maker:
Albrecht Dürer, German, 1471–1528  Search this
Medium:
Engraving on off-white laid paper
Dimensions:
23.8 x 18.5 cm (9 3/8 x 7 5/16 in.)
Type:
figures
Print
Object Name:
Print
Made in:
Germany
Date:
1514
Catalogue Status:
Research in Progress
Description:
The winged figure of a woman, dressed in a long robe, is seated at right; she rests her head on her left hand and holds a compass in her right. A winged genius is seated beside her, writing on a tablet. Behind them is a square tower that displays a scale, an hourglass, a bell and a magic square. The foreground is littered with various instruments related to carpentry and construction: a saw, a plane, a hammer and nails and lengths of wood. At left, a dog sleeps curled between a sphere and a polyhedron. In the distance, in front of a sunset and rainbow over the sea, a bat flies, the word "Melencolia I" engraved across its outstreched wings. Monogram of Dürer and date 1541, lower right.
Credit Line:
Bequest of George Campbell Cooper
Accession Number:
1896-3-28
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
See more items in:
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection
Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design Department
Data Source:
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kq42811fdae-e44e-43d1-a039-ae72c83e8fdc
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:chndm_1896-3-28