An etching by Albrecht Dürer in 1514. It can be interpreted as an allegory of our own imperfection in search of an unattainable perfection. The woman embodies melancholy, which was a humour associated with creativity and insanity. Reason was considered higher than creativity and yet this melancholic muse has created a magic square and several perfect geometric shapes. Despite her perfect creation, she is unable to transcend her melancholy, thus illustrating the fundamental inability to escape the human condition.

https://www.wikiart.org/en/albrecht-durer/melancholia-1514

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