Details

Subject(s)

• Dürer, Albrecht 1471-1528—Melancolia I. [Browse]
• Dürer, Albrecht 1471-1528—Criticism and interpretation [Browse]

Publisher

• Morgan & Claypool Publishers [Browse]
• Institute of Physics (Great Britain) [Browse]

Series

IOP Concise Physics [More in this series]

Biographical/​Historical note

David Ritz Finkelstein (1929-2016) was an emeritus professor of physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He obtained his PhD from MIT in 1953. David was a pioneer who (with Charles W Misner) discovered the gravitational kink, and in 1958 published a paper on "unidirectional membranes" which were renamed "black holes." He was the editor of the International Journal of Theoretical Physics for over 20 years. His wife's words provide the background for this book: "For five years or so, David had a mistress, Melancolia."

Summary note

Few artworks have been the subject of more extensive modern interpretation than Melencolia I by renowned artist, mathematician, and scientist Albrecht Dürer (1514). And yet, did each of these art experts and historians miss a secret manifesto that Dürer included within the engraving? This is the first work to decrypt secrets within Melencolia I based not on guesswork, but Dürer's own writings, other subliminal artists that inspired him (i.e., Leonardo da Vinci), the Jewish and Christian Bibles, and books that inspired Dürer (De Occulta Philosophia and the Hieorglyphica). To read the covert message of Melencolia I is to understand that Dürer was a humanist in his interests in mathematics, science, poetry, and antiquity. This book recognizes his unparalleled power with the burin, his mathematical skill in perspective, his dedication to precise language, and his acute observation of nature. Melencolia I may also be one of the most controversial (and at the time most criminal) pieces of art as it hid Dürer's disdain for the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Kaiser, and the Holy Roman Empire from the general public for centuries. This book closely ties the origins of philosophy (science) and the work of a Renaissance master together, and will be of interest for anyone who loves scientific history, art interpretation, and secret manifestos.

Notes

• "Version: 20161201"--Title page verso.
• "A Morgan & Claypool publication as part of IOP Concise Physics"--Title page verso.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references (pages 44-46).

System details

• Mode of access: World Wide Web.
• System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader, EPUB reader. or Kindle reader.

Source of description

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Contents

• Intro
• Author biography
• David Ritz Finkelstein (July 19, 1929-January 24, 2016)
• Foreword
• Editor&
• #x02019
• s note
• An earlier version of this book was published in 2004 as a paper in The Saint Ann's Review.
• 1. Origins
• 2. Background
• 3. Gateways
• 3.1 Ghosts
• 3.2 Anagram
• 3.3 Subliminal faces
• 3.4 The Triumphal Arch
• 3.5 Mystery
• 3.6 The demon
• 3.7 The octahedron
• 3.8 The angel
• 3.9 The compasses
• 3.10 The Arab
• 3.11 The millstone
• 3.12 The dog
• 3.13 The wave
• 3.14 Destroying angels
• 3.15 The ladder
• 3.16 The house
• 3.17 The magic square
• 3.18 The door
• 3.19 The boy
• 3.20 The scales
• 3.21 The globe
• 3.22 The moonbow
• 3.23 The comet
• 3.24 The hexagram
• 3.25 The bell-ringer
• 3.26 Melancholy
• 3.27
• 3.28 Serpents
• 3.29 The three gnomons
• 4. Summation
• 5. Disclosure
• Acknowledgments
• Bibliography
• Further reading.

Show 42 more Contents items

Other format(s)

Also available in print.

ISBN

9781681740904 ((electronic bk.))

OCLC

971508916

Doi

• 10.1088/978-1-6817-4090-4

Statement on language in description

Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage. Read more...