Melancholy
Dublin Core
Title
Melancholy
Subject
The melancholy temperament: an anxious woman clasps her hands as an agitated man lies on the ground. Engraving by R. Sadeler, 1583, after M. de Vos.
Description
The lettering mentions sleep disorders, anxiety, fear and violence. The man appears to be reaching for a beer jug; broken crockery and furniture lie on the ground. In the background, two performers (one holding scales, the other possibly a snake) stand on a podium, apparently quacks in a medicine show. Three astrological symbols form an arc in the sky
1 print : line engraving ; platemark 18.9 x 24.5 cm
Melancholicus. Anxius et niger est, timet omnia tristia, dormit, / Et violentus atro manat ab ore furor, / Insomnesque agitat violento examine curas: / Mole sua bilis quem nimis atra premit. M. de Vos inventor. Raphael Sadler scalps. Antuerpiæ.
1 print : line engraving ; platemark 18.9 x 24.5 cm
Melancholicus. Anxius et niger est, timet omnia tristia, dormit, / Et violentus atro manat ab ore furor, / Insomnesque agitat violento examine curas: / Mole sua bilis quem nimis atra premit. M. de Vos inventor. Raphael Sadler scalps. Antuerpiæ.
Source
Wellcome
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/k8x8cn4z
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/k8x8cn4z
Publisher
[Paris] : P. Mariette ex, [between 1600 and 1699]
Relation
Anouk Janssen, Grijsaards in zwart-wit: de verbeelding van de ouderdom in de Nederlandse prentkunst (1550-1650), Zutphen 2007, p. 73, fig. 9
Guy Tal, 'Skepticism and morality in Jacques de Gheyn II's Preparation for the witches' sabbath', Simiolus, 2022, 44: 5-27, p. 10 ("A figure with fingers intertwined became a standard signifier of melancholy")
Guy Tal, 'Skepticism and morality in Jacques de Gheyn II's Preparation for the witches' sabbath', Simiolus, 2022, 44: 5-27, p. 10 ("A figure with fingers intertwined became a standard signifier of melancholy")
Collection
Citation
“Melancholy,” European Mastectomy, accessed May 24, 2026, https://www.european-mastectomy.artinterp.org/items/show/209.