Perfection’s Therapy: An Essay on Albrecht Dürer’s Melencolia I

"Without a doubt this is amongst the most original recent essays on Dürer. It tackles many aspects of Dürer’s life, art and culture by looking at the print that speaks to so many people today, Melencolia I. It seems to speak to our own endemic battle with anxiety and depression today. What is particularly interesting about Merback’s book is that he first goes through all the interpretations that have been provided to explain this mysterious print. He then builds on those to say that the print was actually intended by Dürer as a kind of active therapeutic image. This depiction of a melancholic female figure at first glance seems to involve a portrayal of what is so unsettling about a depressed state of mind. There is disorder. Everything that’s lying on the floor, the objects, they seem to be just a random array of this-and-that, unconnected and don’t fall into any order. The central figure’s passivity is also really striking. It appears to be a world that she can’t break out of anymore. She seems to be robbed of agency. “Dürer was the archetype of the Renaissance man, but also the prototypical artist-merchant, and very much a man of the world” The print can be situated in that culture where humanist learned people were thinking of themselves as spiritual guides, transforming matter and healing others. It’s a world of the clergy. A third of Nuremberg inhabitants at the time would have been made up of clergy. So the question of how to use images therapeutically for spiritual guidance is central. Art is more than an allegory. It is something very active, a very different perspective from a narrow focus on Dürer himself, instantiating himself and his authorship. He was caring for others. Like other humanist agents at the time, he sees himself as a carer of souls. Where I disagree with Merback, and this links to what we’ve said in relation to Smith’s approach and my own, is that Merback is amongst those who see Dürer as a perfectionist. It’s very easy to see why you might want to argue that. Many of his prints do bespeak a perfectionism and incredible attention to detail. Again, a close reading of the Heller letters is instructive. Dürer emerges from a craftsman milieu. We do have to see him as someone who actively defines what it is to be an artist, but he also absolutely needs to be re-contextualised within a craft milieu at the same time. He had a very clear sense of how much he’s paid for a particular commission and the effort he would spend to execute it. In terms of his temperament, it’s simply not the case that he was always perfectionist. He was totally capable of cutting corners to save time where necessary. Some of his work is almost like caricature. He could execute a very quickly painted eye, or he was able to do the most naturalistic eye you can can imagine. His work was constantly calibrated to the task at hand, just like other crafts peoples’. One facet of Dürer is certainly engaged with that question, but let’s not fall into the trap of the stereotype of Dürer the workaholic. He had his share of mental pressure, but I do think we have to restore a lot of nuance to Dürer. We can do that via his writings, read in historical context. In his late diaries, for example, we find a Dürer who’s really enjoying life. He’s a foodie, he loves fine clothes, he’s very sociable and loves gambling. And even in his work he’s enjoying the pleasure of viewing things, the pleasure of curiosities. He’s constantly engaged and entertained by what he sees. Of course, he could be anxious about religious change and the big questions of the time. Let’s not, however, overlook the other glimpses we get of Dürer’s multifaceted personality, for instance in the Venetian letters. He was extremely funny! Let’s not overplay that trope of Dürer the melancholic or the solitary artistic genius, lost in contemplation. Dürer was the archetype of the Renaissance man, but also the prototypical artist-merchant, and very much a man of the world."