Atalanta fugiens and a curious case of 17th-century applied art

[Paul Ferguson]

The BPH Collection also has an extraordinary example of applied alchemical art ­– that is, three 17th-century oak panels painted with emblems from Atalanta fugiens, though the textual elements (the motto and epigram) are left out.[2]Two of the panels contain pairs of emblems, respectively: emblems L and I (hereafter Panel 1); and emblems XLII and IX (Panel 2). The third one features three emblems: XXV-XXVI-XXVII (Panel 3). One of these panels, the only one to have been framed (at a later date), though obviously belonging to the same series, was part of the collection of Princess Christina of the Netherlands, which was auctioned in 1996. An interesting added feature in these three panels with emblems from Atalanta fugiens suggests that the patron who commissioned them wished to stress the element of alchemical transformation. In this sense they offer an intriguing yet enigmatic example of contemporary artistic interpretation and reception of one of the most celebrated alchemical emblem books of all times.

https://embassyofthefreemind.com/nl/coll...ta-fugiens