Compare and Contrast Durer\'s Prints of Knight, Death, Devil vs. Melancholia

Albrecht Durer

Knight, Death, and the Devil vs. Melencolia I

Albrecht Durer was a German artists from Nuremberg who lived from 1471-1528. He is considered to be the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance, and his work included paintings, prints, and engravings. Although they were both copper engravings, and created within a year of each other, Durer's Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513) and his Melencolia I (1514) were two very different types of art consisting of two entirely different subjects: one is primarily religious in nature while the other represents intellect and knowledge.

Knight, Death, and the Devil is a religious-themed copper engraving consisting of a Christian Knight riding along flanked by an image of the Devil and Death riding on a pale horse. The Knight is depicted as traveling through the valley of the shadow of death and fearing no evil. This is symbolic of Psalm 23 which the engraving seems to be depicting. While both figures are threatening the Knight, he seems to be oblivious to the danger, protected by his armor of faith. Death's pale horse also seems to bow before the magnificence of the Knight, who's proportions come from DaVinci's canon of proportions.

Durer's Knight, Death, and the Devil is very much in the Gothic style, with many of the forms blending into each other. For a such a small work of art, only 24.6 cm by 19 cm, it contains a great deal of detail. There is a castle in the background representing God, while the dog is symbolic of faith and the lizard represents religious zeal. The engraving makes great use of the Italian artistic technique known as Chiaroscuro, or "light-dark," with it's complex use of contrast between light and dark. The background is a dark, gothic-style tangle of trees, branches, and hillside, while death is represented as a bright figure on a bright horse. The knight contains a mixture of light and dark creating a well defined figure staring straight ahead, undaunted by either Death or the Devil.

While Knight, Death, and the Devil was created in the Gothic Style, containing primarily religious subjects and symbolism, Durer's Melencolia I is a representation of the Renaissance ideas of the reason and knowledge. The figure in the copper engraving is "Melencolia I," (as the inscription declares) representing what is generally thought to be depression, or the melancholy which often plagues artists. The engraving is filled with Renaissance symbolism including geometric instruments, a 4x4 magic square, an hourglass, a balance, and a truncated rhombohedra, known as "Durer's solid." Many of these symbols represent mathematical knowledge, a cornerstone of the Renaissance.

Melencolia has often been called an intellectual depiction of Durer, or a spiritual self-portrait of the artist. The winged figure represents the depression felt by the artist which was thought by Renaissance figures to be one of the four humors. It is interlaced with symbolism of intellect and knowledge, as well as the science of alchemy. Alchemy was considered "modern" by those of this time and also represented intellect and knowledge. Shown in the engraving are alchemical symbols including a crucible and fire; something no alchemist would be without. The ladder in the background is a seven rung ladder representing the seven metals, the seven operations of alchemy, and the seven heavenly bodies (it was thought there were only seven planets in the 16th century).

Knight, Death, and the Devil is a religious-themed engraving done in the Gothic Style, representing more of a medieval genre, while Melencolia incorporates the symbolism of the modern world of the Renaissance. Ironically, the Christian Knight is filled with confidence and purpose, while the winged figure of "Melancholia" sits dejected and depressed. Knight, Death, and the Devil is filled with contrasting shadows of light and dark, gothic in nature, representing the darkness of the medieval period, the constant presence of Death, but clearly define the Knight as the central subject. The Knight, who is covered in the armor of his faith, is powerful and active, determined and goal oriented. While the figure of "Melancholia," who is supposed to represent the light of knowledge and learning, science and alchemy, is depressed and impotent. Knowledge is supposed to bring the light of knowledge and action, but instead brings depression and inaction. While the Knight, who represents the religiosity of the medieval period, is traveling through dark and dangerous times, but still remains confident and full of purpose.