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BBC Radio 4 Extra - Melencolia

Art historian Dr. Janina Ramirez is on a mission to decode Durer's Melencolia 1.

4 Extra Debut. Dr Janina Ramirez is on a 500-year-old mission to decode artist Albrecht Durer's mysterious image, Melencolia 1. From 2014.

Albrecht Durer was the Steve Jobs of his day. 

Master engraver, painter and unafraid of mixing creativity with a keen eye for business. He was well regarded in his own lifetime and acknowledged as the most important artist of the Northern Renaissance. 

Among his many works, it's his master print Melencolia 1 which is the most written about and continues to intrigue those who look at it. Created in 1514, it’s perplexed and inspired some of the greatest minds in history. The print adorned the studies of both Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein.

Dr Janina Ramirez is fascinated by this work and the secrets it contains from the brooding angel to the magic square. She's on a quest to find out if it's possible to decode this intricate engraving. 

The art historian sees a couple of prints at the British Museum with Giulia Bartrum and Dora Thornton. She discovers how the work inspired Sir Harrison Birtwistle to compose his Melencolia I for his friend, the clarinettist, Alan Hacker. 

Janina lectures her students on the work and hears their initial response to the symbols and she meets former art student, David Lol Perry is mesmerised by the print.

Writer and art historian, Patrick Doorly, author of The Truth about Art sheds light on the print and suggests that in order to truly understand it, you also need to know your Plato.

Join Janina on her quest to decode Durer.

Producer: Sarah Taylor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2014.

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