Minneapolis Institute of Art

Melancholic

Peter de Jode; After Maarten de Vos

Date

1590s

Medium

Engraving

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A miser and a woman seemingly depressed over failed alchemical experiments embody melancholy, the personality trait of sadness, the darkness brought on by an excess of black bile. Just as the woman could not achieve happiness by trying to change lead into gold, the treasures of the earth—jewels and gold—will not lift her spirits. This plate belongs to a series of four engravings designed by Maarten de Vos, the most important painter in late 16th-century Antwerp, and executed by the highly skilled Flemish engraver Pieter d Jode I. Belgium, Europe

The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.