11-22-2024, 10:33 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-22-2024, 05:08 PM by Paul Ferguson.)
Sergei Zotov
Allegorical Iconography of Alchemical Furnaces in 16th and 17th Century Manuscripts
"In many illustrated alchemical manuscripts one may find images of furnaces. Starting from the sixteenth century they are often depicted allegorically as well as vials, alembics, and other laboratory utensils. Furnaces were sometimes symbolized by characters connected with fire: hell mouth, demon, or dragon. In other cases, alchemical ovens were depicted as buildings due to their similar form. A tree was also a symbol of an alchemical oven. These iconographical types connected alchemy with something significant outside of alchemy: be it technology, religion, or mythology. This paper argues that the sources for such allegorical imagery could lie in manuals on military technology such as Bellifortis or De re militari."
Attached.
Allegorical Iconography of Alchemical Furnaces in 16th and 17th Century Manuscripts
"In many illustrated alchemical manuscripts one may find images of furnaces. Starting from the sixteenth century they are often depicted allegorically as well as vials, alembics, and other laboratory utensils. Furnaces were sometimes symbolized by characters connected with fire: hell mouth, demon, or dragon. In other cases, alchemical ovens were depicted as buildings due to their similar form. A tree was also a symbol of an alchemical oven. These iconographical types connected alchemy with something significant outside of alchemy: be it technology, religion, or mythology. This paper argues that the sources for such allegorical imagery could lie in manuals on military technology such as Bellifortis or De re militari."
Attached.