Melancholia

Dieter Koepplin has argued convincingly (op. cit.) that although Cranach was quoting formally from Dürer’s work, his intentions were radically different. While the debate surrounding the exact meaning of Dürer’s print is still very much alive, it is generally agreed that melancholy, which was perceived during the Middle Ages as a sinful humour akin to sloth and denial of God, is presented in Durer’s image as a condition necessary to achieving artistic, scientific and philosophical genius. However, this positive humanist interpretation of melancholy was still far from meeting with general consensus and one of its strongest adversaries was the great religious reformer Martin Luther, a close friend of Cranach. Indeed, in his writings Luther frequently described melancholy as a devilish affliction: ‘All heaviness of mind and melancholy come from the devil; especially these thoughts, that God is not gracious unto him’ (M. Luther, The Table Talk of Martin Luther, ed. and translated by W. Hazlitt, Philadelphia, 1883, p. 334).

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The inclusion of the fifteen boisterous children in this painting remains enigmatic. The design would appear to derive from an engraving of the same subject by Andrea Mantegna, which is now lost but is recorded in the 1685 inventory of Cesare d’Ignazio d’Este in Ferrara: ‘sixteen children who are playing music and dancing, with Melancolia written above’ (inventory published in G. Campori, Raccolta di Cataloghi ed Inventarii inediti, Modena, 1870, p. 328). They may be included to represent merriment and light-heartedness, in contrast to the morose state of the winged allegory.

[Christie's Online database; https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/paintings/lucas-cranach-i-melancholia-5813547-details.aspx; accessed 29 Nov 2017]