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The queen is aureoled by a rainbow of yellow and blue. Lennep comments that the original manuscript includes an inscription: "Filius natus ex me, major est me" (the son born of me is greater than me). Compare with the following drawing ( Wellcome Library catalogue no. 38827i), of the new king

Splendor solis

1 painting : watercolour ; image 42.3 x 22.1 cm.

A queen dressed in blue, representing mercury, in a crowned alchemical flask. Watercolour painting.

Lennep claims that this image is related to a text by the ancient alchemist Zosimos of Panoplis, who writes: "These old sages voluntarily dismembered themselves and boiled the pieces until a perfect decoction took place, in order to change their feeble old age into a state of force and vigour". The image here also has Christian resonances of baptism and resurrection. In alchemy the dove represented the volatile spirit of putrefying matter (Lennep, p. 122)

1 painting : watercolour ; image 36.9 x 25.3 cm.

A Christ-like figure seated in a boiling vat while a man works a bellows beneath it; representing the process of self-destruction in order to attain the elixir of life. Watercolour painting.

1 painting : watercolour ; image 39.6 x 27.9 cm.

A moon above a queen dressed in blue, and a sun above a king dressed in red; representing two alchemical principles: the dissolving 'lac virginis' (mercury) and the coagulating masculine principle (sulphur). Watercolour painting.

As the authors show, the writings of medieval alchemists may seem like the ravings of brain-addled fools, but there is more to the story than that. Recent scholarship has shown that some seemingly nonsensical mysticism is, in fact, decipherable code, and Western European alchemists functioned from a firmer theoretical foundation than previously thought. They had a guiding principle, based on experience: separate and purify materials by fire and reconstitute them into products, including, of course, gold and the universal elixir, the Philosophers' stone. Their efforts were not in vain: by trial, by error, by design, and by persistence, the alchemists discovered acids, alkalis, alcohols, salts, and exquisite, powerful, and vibrant reactions--which can be reproduced using common products, minerals, and metals.

364 pages : illustrations (some colour) ; 24 cm

The chemistry of alchemy : from dragon's blood to donkey dung, how chemistry was forged / Cathy Cobb, Monty Fetterolf, and Harold Goldwhite.

1 painting : watercolour ; image 40.7 x 24.8 cm.

An alchemical adept carrying the vase of Hermes, which is inscribed "Let us go to seek the nature of the four elements". Watercolour painting.

Lennep remarks upon the alchemical dictum that "one must multiply the eagle in order to vanquish the lion more easily" (ibid. p. 125) Mercury is the principle of dissolution; the lion represents fixity

1 painting : watercolour ; image 40.6 x 19.7 cm.

A three-headed eagle in a crowned alchemical flask, representing mercury sublimated three times. Watercolour painting.

With one red wing, another white, and garments black, the androgyne contains the three phases of the work in one. In its right hand it holds a circle containing a mirror reflecting nature. In its left hand it holds an egg, known as the Philosophical Egg, because it contains all the four elements at once

1 painting : watercolour ; image 36.2 x 25.3 cm.

The Hermetic androgyne; representing the stages of the alchemical Work in One. Watercolour painting.

1 painting : watercolour ; image 41.8 x 19.6 cm.

A peacock in a crowned alchemical flask; representing the stage in the alchemical process when the substance breaks out into many colours. Watercolour painting.

Lennep (op. cit, p. 116) sets out the two interpretations of the painting mentioned above

1 painting : watercolour ; image 35 x 22 cm.

A red-faced sun rises above a city; stunted trees stand in the foreground; representing either the culmination of the alchemical work or the star of hope that inspires the alchemist through his tribulations. Watercolour painting.

The dragon represents the volatile matter that must be fixed by using the element of fire

A putto pours a phial into a dragon's mouth, pumping a bellows with his other hand; representing the fixing of volatile matter in the alchemical process. Watercolour painting.

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A queen dressed in blue, representing mercury, in a crowned alchemical flask. Watercolour painting.

A Christ-like figure seated in a boiling vat while a man works a bellows beneath it; representing the process of self-destruction in order to attain the elixir of life. Watercolour painting.

A moon above a queen dressed in blue, and a sun above a king dressed in red; representing two alchemical principles: the dissolving 'lac virginis' (mercury) and the coagulating masculine principle (sulphur). Watercolour painting.

The chemistry of alchemy : from dragon's blood to donkey dung, how chemistry was forged / Cathy Cobb, Monty Fetterolf, and Harold Goldwhite.

An alchemical adept carrying the vase of Hermes, which is inscribed "Let us go to seek the nature of the four elements". Watercolour painting.

A three-headed eagle in a crowned alchemical flask, representing mercury sublimated three times. Watercolour painting.

The Hermetic androgyne; representing the stages of the alchemical Work in One. Watercolour painting.

A peacock in a crowned alchemical flask; representing the stage in the alchemical process when the substance breaks out into many colours. Watercolour painting.

A red-faced sun rises above a city; stunted trees stand in the foreground; representing either the culmination of the alchemical work or the star of hope that inspires the alchemist through his tribulations. Watercolour painting.

A putto pours a phial into a dragon's mouth, pumping a bellows with his other hand; representing the fixing of volatile matter in the alchemical process. Watercolour painting.

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A queen dressed in blue, representing mercury, in a crowned alchemical flask. Watercolour painting.

A Christ-like figure seated in a boiling vat while a man works a bellows beneath it; representing the process of self-destruction in order to attain the elixir of life. Watercolour painting.

A moon above a queen dressed in blue, and a sun above a king dressed in red; representing two alchemical principles: the dissolving 'lac virginis' (mercury) and the coagulating masculine principle (sulphur). Watercolour painting.

The chemistry of alchemy : from dragon's blood to donkey dung, how chemistry was forged / Cathy Cobb, Monty Fetterolf, and Harold Goldwhite.

An alchemical adept carrying the vase of Hermes, which is inscribed "Let us go to seek the nature of the four elements". Watercolour painting.

A three-headed eagle in a crowned alchemical flask, representing mercury sublimated three times. Watercolour painting.

The Hermetic androgyne; representing the stages of the alchemical Work in One. Watercolour painting.

A peacock in a crowned alchemical flask; representing the stage in the alchemical process when the substance breaks out into many colours. Watercolour painting.

A red-faced sun rises above a city; stunted trees stand in the foreground; representing either the culmination of the alchemical work or the star of hope that inspires the alchemist through his tribulations. Watercolour painting.

A putto pours a phial into a dragon's mouth, pumping a bellows with his other hand; representing the fixing of volatile matter in the alchemical process. Watercolour painting.

Stay in the know

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