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Melencolia I AD, Albrecht Dürer, 1514

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A seated winged woman surrounded by many symbolic figures and objects such as rainbow, bat, a large stone, ladder, hourglass, bell, and magic square; carpenter's tools and a sleeping dog; and a small putto with a notebook and ink well

Melencolia I AD, Albrecht Dürer, 1514

This engraving, by the German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) represents melancholy as a winged woman. The illustration includes symbolic and psychological elements, such as a bat carrying a sign reading “Melancolia I.”

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