Art for Depression: Albrecht Dürer, Melancholia I, 1514

Depression is depressingly common- but that doesn’t mean it isn’t serious. Today we’ll look at a work of art that addresses an obscure side-effect of depression: existential angst. We’ll also look at the history of depression, or melancholy as it was known, and see how Dürer’s image can help us understand the place the big questions have in our lives.

More on Melancholia I:
This is one of those artworks where the Wikipedia page is just perfect. Whoever wrote it, I salute you:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melencolia_I
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/northern/durer/a/what-is-melencolia
Links between depression and creativity:
https://theconversation.com/winston-churchill-and-his-black-dog-of-greatness-36570
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/style/the-case-for-melancholy.html

Resources for depression:
https://www.psycom.net/depression-test/
https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/resources-support/depression/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiCrniLQGYc

The gorgeous image of contemplation was done by Delf_Centauri:
https://www.reddit.com/user/Delf_Centauri/
The evocative Depression Kitty (originally from the Netflix show “Big Mouth”) done by Paulina Cruz: https://paulinacrz.tumblr.com/post/179200472424

***This video was made on the unceded land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their elders – past, present and emerging.***