I have just been looking at some illustrations from an Italian manuscript, probably created in the middle of the 15th century by someone called De Oldanis. The manuscript is now in the University of Pavia, MS. 74. This is descriptively entitled Ars sive doctrina de transmutatione metallorum, and is particularly distinguished by having a number of coloured drawings. Some of these show symbolic coats of arms. I show the drawing from folio 65v. The shield on the left has a Sun, Moon and Star, above a layer of clouds, while above is the image of a dark eagle. The middle shield is quartered with lions and pillars, while that on the right has a crown with two feathers. Unfortunately I do not have access to coloured reproductions of these images. It would be good to know the colours used on the figures.
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