BLACKWORK “DÜRER GRAPH”

---

Artist: Emmanuelle RAPIN

Title: BLACKWORK “DÜRER GRAPH”

Attribution: Blackwork "Dürer Graph", 2021 Emmanuelle Rapin

Year: 2021

Materials: Embroidery on lead plate, Mouline cotton thread.

Dimensions: 24,6 x 33,4 cm

Image Statement: BLACKWORK (Dürer graph) is a Holbein stitch embroidery worked with black thread on lead plate. The repetitively depicted shape is based on the mysterious polyhedron from Albrecht Dürer's Melencolia I. In its two-dimensional form it is known in mathematics as the "Dürer Graph" which, by definition, is an undirected graph with 12 vertices and 18 edges. In many ancient interpretations, the term "blackwork" refers to the first stage of alchemy (Nigredo). Nigredo is marked by the sign of Saturn, associated with metals such as lead and iron but also with pyrite, an opaque mineral that forms distinct, characteristic polyhedral structures. It is reasonable to assume that Dürer's polyhedron is a body of made of pyrite crystals.