# Melencolia I

**Albrecht Dürer** (German, 1471–1528)  
1514  
Engraving  
Sheet: 9 1/2 × 7 3/8 in. (24.1 × 18.7 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 43.106.1. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/336228).

## About this work

A winged figure sits slumped, chin on fist, surrounded by the tools of measurement and making: a compass in her lap, a plane and saw at her feet, an hourglass, scales and a bell on the wall behind, a ladder, a huge faceted stone and a sphere. A sleeping dog and a scribbling putto keep her company, and a bat-like creature carries the title across a sky lit by a comet and a rainbow. The engraving is often read as an image of creative inertia, the melancholic temperament thought to afflict artists and thinkers. Look for the magic square on the wall, whose bottom row includes the date 1514.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Albrecht Dürer made this in 1514, aged 43. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Engraving.** Lines cut directly into a metal plate with a steel burin, which makes them swell and taper. It took years to master, and for centuries it was how paintings travelled as pictures.

### [Albrecht Dürer](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/albrecht-durer)

German, 1471–1528; born in Nuremberg; died in Nuremberg

Dürer trained as a goldsmith with his father and then under the Nuremberg painter Michael Wolgemut, whose studio produced woodcut book illustrations. Two journeys to Italy brought him into contact with Venetian painting and the theory of proportion, which he set out to bring north. He raised woodcut and engraving to new heights of detail and ambition, issuing his own series such as The Apocalypse and The Life of the Virgin, and his engraving Adam and Eve of 1504 shows his study of the ideal human figure.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Prints
- The artist was 43
- Real size: about 9½ × 7½ in (24 × 19 cm). The 8 × 10 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 16th century
- Subjects: Contemplation, Putti, Dogs, Geometry
- Colour: grey
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1001.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1001/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/melencolia-i-met-336228).