Melancholy

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Melancholy was probably the most used mental illness term in early modern England. Treatises on self-help, medical texts and literary and artistic depictions were readily available to some households. Today we refer to Melancholy as depression, still the most prevalent mental health issue faced by our populations today; the World Health Organisation’s latest statistics revealed that more than 300 million people globally suffer with depression (WHO, March 2018).

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Early Modern Melancholy

By Mary Blomgren

Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy is a combination of a medical text with a literary work of art. Although Burton was not a doctor, he was very interested in medicine and subsequently read a wide variety of texts on the subject. Throughout the book Burton integrates evidence and medicinal anecdotes from ancient doctors and philosophers such as Hippocrates, Aristotle and Galen, just to name a few. He describes his beliefs regarding the definition, causes and symptoms of melancholy. It is important to note that Burton himself suffered from melancholy. He makes it clear to the reader that he wrote the book to distract from, and perhaps resolve his own melancholy. The text was a way to help himself while helping others at the same time. Burton also has firsthand experience on the matter. Implemented in the text are other anecdotes to support his own thoughts and experiences. He also uses satirical elements throughout the text, which I think helps to alleviate some of the seriousness of this particular disease. That is not to say melancholy is not a serious and problematic thing, but rather the use of comedic relief provides some light in a dark situation.  

Melancholy, which is now generally known as depression, has an abundance of causes according to Burton. It ranges from drinking and one’s diet to God and the stars. Causes of this malady can be found everywhere. Melancholy can affect either inward or outward parts of the body. Inward parts are those unseen, such as the brain, heart and the liver. Outward parts include extruding features such as the nose, eyes, shoulder, and back. Traditionally, disorder and disease were attributed to a disrupted equilibrium of the humours of the body. Although Burton does mention this, it is not his main focus of what causes melancholy.  

One cause that I found significant is that of inheriting melancholy from your parents. Burton believes that melancholy is a hereditary disease in which symptoms of melancholy will be passed from parent to child, with differing symptoms from the mother and father. If the father eats too much garlic and onions, studies too hard and is perplexed in his thoughts, then his child will suffer from melancholy. Additionally, if the mother is angry, peevish, and discontented, then her child will suffer as well. Researchers and scholars today are still determining if, and to what extent melancholic tendencies are passed down from parents. From the numerous causes described in the book it is clear that no single factor is responsible for causing melancholy. However, genetic and environmental factors may cause certain people to be more prone to this ailment.  

After the first publication in 1621, this medicinal text became very popular as a diagnosis and cure of the melancholic disease. This text was significant in the early modern period because it provided a relatively scientific explanation of what many people were experiencing. Burton described some of the affected parties as those who live in too hot or too cold climates, those who are solitary by nature, and those born of melancholy parents. People in early modern household could use this text to help diagnose themselves or someone else and provide the necessary cure. I think this text could also be used to educate those who are not affected, since there is a section on the prognosis of the disease. Whether the reader chose the book for educational or medicinal reasons, there was a lot more offered than just descriptions of symptoms and cures. It is a piece of literature that demonstrates how art and science can be combined to create a work that is educational yet entertaining at times.

The causes for melancholy also show what concepts that were of significance during the early modern period. Burton uses the knowledge from previous scholars to create his own body of work about an ailment that affects him. This could, in a way, be comparable to the recipe books used in early modern households. A book could be altered by the reader to create a new text that suited their needs, whether it be medicinal or culinary. New notes and opinions would appear in the margins showing what remedies worked and how others could be improved. The book was republished five times, each with revisions and added information. This shows that throughout the years accepted knowledge and remedies may change. This text is also important to consider in current times as it shows how far modern medicine has come, and the way we view certain conditions and diseases.

Bibliography

Burton, Robert, The Anatomy of Melancholy Vol. 1, (Oxford, 1621).

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The Art of Melancholy

By Lindsey Gosling

Visual representations are an alternative avenue to pursue, when attempting to gain an understanding of the past.  Works of art are more than just drawings and paintings, they are historical documents which contain important and insightful information about the experience of humans.

By analysing works of art such as Albrecht Dürer’s Melencholia 1 a woodcut from 1514, much can be gleaned concerning early modern perceptions and understandings of melancholy. Pieces such as these were reprinted and mass produced and therefore would have been easily accessible and found in many early modern households. So not only did this image represent Dürer’s interpretation of melancholy, it would also have been influential upon the understanding of those within the household.

This image is one of three large prints done by Dürer between 1513 and 1514 known as his Meisterstiche, meaning it was one of his master engravings.  It has therefore roused a vast literature of scholarly works surrounding it. The first real interpretation was proposed by Joachim Camerarius, a friend of Dürer’s in 1541.  Since then many more have been penned, such as Karl Giehlow’s which laid the foundations for Erwin Panofsky and Fritz Saxl’s interpretation in 1923.  Art historian Campbell Dodgson argued in 1926 that, ‘The literature on Melancholia is more extensive than that on any other engraving by Dürer’.[1]  

Panofsky believed Melencholia 1 to be a depiction of Dürer’s intellectual situation, or a spiritual self-portrait if you will.  Every small detail within this image will have been drawn with purpose, revealing something about Dürer’s inner self.  Therefore it would be pertinent to analyse some of the elements individually in order to gain a real insight into not just the mind of Dürer himself, but also into early modern societal beliefs concerning melancholy.

Even the title of this piece has a hidden meaning. Melancholy was often associated with higher intellect, and flights of genius.  A German thinker Heinrich Cornelius Agrippe von Nettesheim defined three types of melancholic genius in his works, Three Books of Occult Philosophy.  In this hierarchy the number ‘1’ was indicative of melancholia imaginative, which was supposed to govern the imagination and pertained specifically to artists.

The main figure of the image a brooding angel, has been interpreted by some art historians such as Franz Leitschuh to be the personification of melancholy. Intricate details surrounding the angel, suggest the ways in which melancholy was believed to physically afflict its sufferers.

Firstly the wreath of buttercups and watercress worn around the angels head, were considered in early modern times to be an antidote to dryness.  Black bile one of the four humours also known as melancholy, was described by Galen as being ‘cold and dry’.[2]  Then to the lower right of the angel is a medical tool known as a clyster.  It was commonly used to relieve constipation, a further physical symptom associated with melancholy as argued by John Byrne in A Treatise on the Causes and Consequences of Habitual Constipation. 

Not only does the picture allude to physical symptoms of the illness, it also attempts to evidence some of the psychological effects.  The angelic figure holds a compass, which can be used to draw geometric shapes and to measure and compare proportions.  This could be symbolic of creativity and rationality, creativity was regarded as symptomatic of a melancholic artist.[3]  The money bag laid on the floor and the keys on the angel’s belt are suggested to be representative of order and power, illustrating how every aspect of the life was impacted upon by melancholy.   

Other elements separate to the angel work to illustrate the darkness of a melancholic mind, emphasising the overpowering presence of death.  The hour glass above the angel implies the shortness of life and how time is not infinite.  The bell rope, which is controlled by an unseen force could represent the end of life, and how it is out of one’s own control.  Then the balance being a symbol of justice, indicates concerns over the weighing of souls in order to be permitted into heaven, via the ladder leaning against the wall.

There is a rainbow across the skyline in the background of the image, representing hope.  However within the rainbow there is what might be a shooting star or a comet.  Either of these explanations would have been regarded as a celestial anomaly, and would have therefore been seen as a dark omen or as threatening, in accordance with Aristotle’s teachings.[4]  Thus exemplifying how those suffering melancholy were frequently consumed with thoughts of death, and fears of cataclysmic omen like events.  

This image contains a plethora of symbols which could be interpreted to mean many different things.  Dürer himself left no real written explanations for its meaning, so it has therefore remained open to outside interpretation.  Over the years different explanations have been proposed, however there are usually some common notions and threads between them.  One can see then how useful it can be to examine artwork for the purpose of attaining knowledge, in this instance relating to early modern beliefs concerning melancholy as a recognised mental illness.

Bibliography and further reading

Aristotle, The Nature of Melancholy: From Aristotle to Kristeva, ed. Jennifer Radden (New York, 2000).

Bran, Noel L., Trithemius and Magical Theology: A Chapter in the Controversy over Occult Studies in Early Modern Europe, (New York, 1999).

Byrne, John, A Treatise on the Causes and Consequences of Habitual Constipation, (Philadelphia, 1840).

Dodgson, Campbell, Albrecht Durer, (London, 1926).

Doorly Patrik, ‘Dürer’s “Melencolia I”: Plato’s Abandoned Search for the Beautiful’, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 86, No. 2 (June, 2004), pp. 255-276.

Galen, The Nature of Melancholy: From Aristotle to Kristeva, ed. Jennifer Radden,(New York, 2000).

Hellman, Clarisse Doris, The Comet of 1577: Its Place in the History of Astronomy, (Columbia, 1944).

Albrech Durer, ‘Melencholia 1’, (1514), https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/336228, The Met, https://www.metmuseum.org/, [accessed28/04/2019].

Nettesheim, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, ed. Llewellyn Worldwide, (St. Paul, 1993).

Panofsky, Erwin, The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer, 4^th Edition, (Princeton, 1955).

Picart, Caroline Joan, Thomas, Mann and Friedrich Nietzsche: Eroticism, Death, Music, and Laughter, (Amsterdam, 1999).

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[1] Campbell Dodgson, Albrecht Durer, (London, 1926), p. 94.

[2] Galen, The Nature of Melancholy: From Aristotle to Kristeva, ed. Jennifer Radden (New York, 2000), p. 62.

[3] Aristotle, The Nature of Melancholy: From Aristotle to Kristeva, ed. Jennifer Radden (New York, 2000), p. 12.

[4] Clarisse Doris Hellman, The Comet of 1577: Its Place in the History of Astronomy, (Columbia, 1944), p. 65.

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Discrepancies in Early Modern Melancholy

By Mary Blomgren

The notion that melancholy was a frequent disease in the 16^th and 17^th centuries was supported by a variety of scholars, including Robert Burton. His book, The Anatomy of Melancholy offered hundreds of pages describing causes, symptoms and cures for the disease. The idea that the country was facing an epidemic of melancholy was evident by the number of scholars who wrote about the topic. Centuries later questions are being raised regarding the legitimacy of these claims that melancholy had a very high incidence rate. Additionally, the idea that melancholy was a purely English characteristic, and that it resulted from “economic depression and the threat of the Spanish invasion”[1] is now being questioned as well.

Angus Gowland’s article The Problem of Early Modern Melancholy aims to answer why melancholy was perceived to be such an abundant disease during early modern period. Gowland recognizes that there are differences between what was deemed melancholy and what is now known as depression. His explanation of diagnostic variations of the disease is important because it highlights how “one doctor’s ‘melancholic’ might be another’s ‘hypochondriac’”[2]. If there are discontinuities between what is considered melancholy, then there will be discontinuities between the number of people who actually suffered from the disease.  

Gowland wants historians to question why so many people were concerned with melancholy’s assumed frequency rather than the disease itself. His focus of the paper is to find out why people described themselves as melancholic and what exactly they meant by it. One possible answer is that because of the increased interest of occult studies, melancholy was essentially used to explain some concepts of witchcraft and demonology. Another possible answer is that melancholy was an emotional condition that carried spiritual, ethical and medical significance.

The way in which writers of melancholy addressed their audience was another potential reason for the supposed high incidence rates. Rather than identifying their audience as people who were occasionally affected by sorrow, the authors referred to them as melancholics, which possibly caused the readers to internalize and reproduce melancholic behavior. The discourse surrounding causes of melancholy shifted from the imbalance of black bile in the body to evil spirits entering the body through the imagination and causing emotional turmoil. As we know from Burton’s book, there is no single cause for melancholy. However, people believed that certain things were more likely to cause such feelings and behaviors.

The discontinuities surrounding the discourse of melancholy expanded to include the degree of sadness a person felt. Could temporary sadness be considered melancholy? Or did the person have to experience “extreme irrational derangement” to be diagnosed with melancholy? Gowland finds this problematic since everyone experiences some level of sadness within their lifetime, but does that mean everyone suffers from melancholy? This explains why the frequency of perceived melancholy was so high in the early modern period.  

The paper offers a new perspective on melancholy in the early modern period. Traditionally, the topic of melancholy was centered around its possible causes and cures. Scholars, historians and psychologist were focused on the physical and mental effects of melancholy on individuals and have not really delved into the wider implications of the disease on the population as a whole. Gowland’s attempt to broaden the scope of melancholy in the early modern period allows for new information to surface. This also leads to a better understanding of how melancholy was viewed in the household during this time. Many people may have labelled themselves as melancholic since there was no set definition for the disease. Any form of sadness could be considered melancholy. It was therefore perceived as a common disease that could affect anybody. Books such as Burton’s were used to self-diagnose and find cures. But these may not have been reliable since the concept of melancholy was still undiscovered. There was, and there still is much to learn about the disease of melancholy that seemingly affected so many people in the early modern period.  

Bibliography

 Burton, Robert, The Anatomy of Melancholy Vol. 1, (Oxford, 1621).

Gowland, Angus, The Problem of Early Modern Melancholy, (Oxford University Press, 2006).

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[1] Gowland, The Problem of Early Modern Melancholy, p.80.

[2] Gowland, The Problem of Early Modern Melancholy, p.82