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   Ardith Hinton:   
      
   AH> Albrecht Durer, 1471-1528.  Once again you piqued my   
   AH> interest because Dallas & I have a copy of "The Little   
   AH> Owl" dated 1508.  :-)   
      
   Indeed. As a true Reneissance man, he was not only an   
   engraver but also an excellent painter, so that he had   
   "silenced all the painters who said that I was good at   
   engraving but could not manage color." I see little point in   
   having copies at home, of however great works, and prefer   
   genuine prints and pictures by local and less-known artists.   
   Several years go, my town's Exhibition Hall hosted an   
   exhibition of North Korean art -- from oil painitng to   
   embroidery. I bought there a huge oil painting depicting a   
   river descending from mountains onto a plain, with a tiny   
   bus in the extreme background, tourists like tiny specks of   
   color grouped around it -- a tribute to social realism   
   perhaps, or a way to liven up the masses of blue and green.   
   This picture cost me a miserable 50 dollars, so that I   
   wanted to pay more. Oil paintings of comparable size and   
   quality by local painters cost 10-20 times more! Poor North   
   Koreans...   
      
   AH> I don't know much about visual art in general or about   
   AH> this artist in particular... but I've always thought my   
   AH> owl looked a bit sad & began to wonder upon reading your   
   AH> comments what was going on in Durer's mind.   
      
   Or is it simply the empty-eyed contemplative stare of a   
   stuffed animal? Anyway, I like his Young Hare much better:   
      
      https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Albrecht_   
   urer_-_Hare%2C_1502_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg   
      
   That serious fella has a world-wise look to his eye, has he   
   not? If he were not red, he would be fit for the role of the   
   possessed hare in The Witch (or The VVitch) -- a beautiful   
   movie with dialogue exclusively in Early Modern English.   
      
   AH> Uncle Google tells me the work you're referring to dates   
   AH> back to 1514 .. the year the artist's mother died... and   
   AH> it's also widely believed that his arranged marriage was   
   AH> not a happy one.   
      
   The medieval Melancholia represents the frigid Saturnic   
   Hella, the Norse mistress of the nine worlds of the dead.   
   Her name is connected with that of the leader of the Wild   
   Hunt, Helle-quin, which later became known an harlequin.   
   Durer worked within the Medieval worldview, and his   
   engravings are illustrations to Medieval mythology.   
      
   AH> I see no further evidence of sadness in what I can find   
   AH> on the Internet.  The images there are small,   
      
   Why, the Wikipedia scan is large and good:   
      
      https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Albrecht_   
   urer_-_Melencolia_I_-_Google_Art_Project_(_AGDdr3EHmNGyA).jpg   
      
      
   AG> however, and I am aware of other situations in which   
   AG> e.g. the audience wouldn't realize Beethoven was deaf   
   AG> when he wrote his "Ode to Joy" if they hadn't been told.   
      
   Nor would I. I have read that Beethoven used a crude hearing   
   aid in the form of a metal rod, of which one end was   
   connected with the piano strings and the other the composer   
   held in his teenth to feel the vibrations. This reminds me   
   of a Russian theater actor that went deaf at the height of   
   his career, but continued to act better than many that could   
   hear. He had an almost supernatural sense of time and   
   rhythm. He could act standing at the edge of the scene   
   facing the audience, and say his lines exactly over the last   
   of word of his partner behind his back. Similarly, I have a   
   drawing by a Russian artist who is nearly blind. She has but   
   8% of normal vision, and when I met her to buy the drawing   
   she was with a guide.   
      
   AH> While I don't think art necessarily has to be beautiful   
      
   I think art is all about beauty in all its forms.   
      
   AH> it's probably more attractive to people in general when   
   AH> it comes close at least.  In my youth I had a rare   
   AH> opportunity to spend some time alone with an aunt who   
   AH> had received formal training in visual art whereas I was   
   AH> studying music.  We found that many of the terms we   
   AH> used, such as form and texture, were identical.  But   
   AH> being able to discuss the whys & wherefores doesn't turn   
   AH> people into artists or musicians.   
      
   That is true, even as being able to drive does not make you   
   an automotive engineer. Everybody appreciate good food but   
   few are good cooks.   
      
   AH> Summarizing the prose poem you mentioned above:   
   AH>   
   AH> 1).  The author uses a capital letter... not unusual,   
   AH>      based on my observations of poetry & of prayer   
   AH>      books written around the same time.  He's uncertain   
   AH>      as to whether he ought to say "he", "she", or "it".   
   AH>   
   AH> 2)  The Demon says "I've never experienced it, and now I   
   AH>      doubt it's real."   
   AH>   
   AH> 3)  The Angel's reply is more thoughtful.  It suggests   
   AH>      to me that when I find myself particularly moved by   
   AH>      a bit of music... frisson... I am not alone.   
      
   I suppose it reflects the attitude of the characters. The   
   male protagonist thinks her a woman, perhaps as a symbol of   
   what men adore. The Demon talks about "adumbrations of some   
   transcendent Mystery", and calls it "the thing Beauty".   
   Having failed to find it, he does not believe in it, missing   
   the simple truth that if Beauty were found all life would   
   lose its meaning and cease. The Angel tells of the same   
   Mystery as the Demon, but concludes from it that Beauty does   
   exist, but is beyond men and angels, even as God is.   
      
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