Albrecht Dürer - The death of Orpheus [1494]

Albrecht Dürer – The Death of Orpheus (1494)

Federzeichnung [1494] Hamburger Kunsthalle

*******************************************************************************

Narrative Description

The pen drawing in the collection of the Hamburger Kunsthalle depicts a dramatic scene set within an open landscape. At the centre of the composition kneels the almost naked Orpheus, who is attacked by two frenzied women – the Maenads. The action is concentrated in the lower half of the image, while in the background a group of trees appears, among whose branches hang an open book and a scroll bearing an inscription.

The posture of Orpheus is tense and defensive. His right leg is bent and supports his weight, while the left leg stretches far backwards. This position creates a strong diagonal tension within the body and conveys the impression of a sudden, almost desperate attempt at defence.

With his right hand he supports himself on the ground in order to maintain his balance. His left arm is raised to his head in order to shield it from the blow of the Maenad standing on the right. She is turned away from the viewer, presenting her back. She raises a long staff to strike. Because she is shown from behind, her figure appears heavier and more stable; she effectively forms the first flank of the attack.

Orpheus has turned his head to the left; consequently the second attacker, who stands behind him to the right, swings a heavy branch with raised arms outside his field of vision. This creates a situation of double threat: while Orpheus attempts to defend himself against the blow from the right, he remains completely exposed to the attack from the opposite side.

Both Maenads are caught in vigorous sweeping rotational movements; their garments follow the motion and intensify the impression of a wild, ecstatic assault.

The Lyre

In the foreground of the scene a lyre lies on the ground, the classical attribute of Orpheus. It is carefully drawn and deliberately isolated.

The lyre lying on the ground marks the decisive moment of the narrative: the music has fallen silent. With it the protective power of art is also lost – the very power which, according to the ancient tradition, had initially shielded Orpheus from the attacks of the Maenads.

The Boy

In the left foreground a small naked boy runs out of the scene. His body is already moving hastily toward the left edge of the image, yet while running he turns his head back over his shoulder toward the event. His hands are empty; he carries no object.

It is precisely this backward glance during flight that makes the figure particularly vivid: the body is already directed toward escape, while the gaze lingers once more on the dramatic event.

The similarity to the boy in the engraving

Hercules at the Crossroads

is striking. In both cases a youthful secondary figure appears who observes the event yet withdraws from it. This observer figure simultaneously intensifies the dramatic effect of the scene by revealing the violence from a distanced perspective.

The Tree with Book and Scroll

Behind the scene rises a group of trees whose trunks and branches intertwine densely. Among the branches hangs an open book, while near the top of the tree a scroll floats bearing the inscription:

“Oefrus der erst puseran”

(possibly meaning: Orpheus, the first poet-singer).

This unusual motif lends the scene a learned, almost humanistic context. During the Renaissance Orpheus was understood not merely as a singer but as a mythical proto-poet and civilising culture hero; the book may therefore be interpreted as a symbol of poetry or transmitted wisdom.

________________________________________

Art-Historical Assessment

The drawing was produced in 1494 and belongs to the early mythological representations of

Albrecht Dürer.

In German art of this period subjects drawn from ancient mythology were still relatively rare; their appearance is closely connected with the growing influence of humanism.

The scene follows the narrative from the Metamorphoses of

Ovid: after mourning the death of Eurydice and turning away from women, Orpheus is attacked and killed by the Maenads in a frenzy of ecstatic violence. Dürer depicts the moment in which the singer has already become defenceless and the music – symbolised by the lyre lying on the ground – has fallen silent.

Compositionally a strong tension emerges: the kneeling Orpheus finds himself literally between two attacks. This configuration intensifies the tragic character of the scene and emphasises his complete helplessness in the face of the Maenads’ frenzy.

The fleeing boy forms a quiet counterpoint to the violence. Through his movement out of the scene an additional psychological dimension arises: while the adults are caught in a frenzy of violence, the childlike figure reacts with instinctive distance.

At the same time the drawing already demonstrates Dürer’s extraordinary attentiveness to movement and bodily mechanics. The complex positioning of the legs, arms and torso of Orpheus conveys a moment of unstable motion – an approach that would later be further developed in Dürer’s anatomical studies and theories of proportion.

 

Done