Albrecht Dürer: The Six Knots Canvas Bag

“Leonardo da Vinci’s and Dürer’s labyrinthine knots without beginning or end can be seen as maps of the universe.” The knots referenced are six compositions originally created as engravings attributed to a similarly mysterious “Academy of Leonardo da Vinci” and later translated into woodcuts by the much better documented Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528).

Each knot is in fact a group of intricately entwined infinity loops made up of repeating patterns that follow circular paths. Four smaller, single loops of roughly triangular formation frame each of the knots, effeüctively squaring the circles with the rectilinear sheets of paper on which they are printed. In the Leonardo engravings, these smaller, “framing” knots are detached; Dürer, however, enclosed the central knots and the peripheral ones within continuous, dark backgrounds.

Learn More about Albrecht Dürer's The Six Knots here.