A scene from the two-sided folio from Hartmann Schedel's The Book of Chronicles, or in German Das Buch der Chroniken (1493), depicting God creating Adam from clay. This clay is interpreted alchemically as the "prima…

A two-sided folio from Hartmann Schedel's The Book of Chronicles, or in German Das Buch der Chroniken (1493). On the recto is a text block on top and an image below depicting God creating Adam from clay. This clay is…

This "Rosicrucian" woodcut portrait of the Swiss-German physician and alchemist Aureolus Philippus Theophrastus—better known as Paracelsus—appeared as the frontispiece to a posthumous 1567 edition of his works titled Ph…

This wood engraving portrays Albertus Magnus (1193?-1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, who was a German Dominican friar and Catholic bishop. The inscription "Albert Le Grand Evesque de…

This depiction of 8th-century Arabic polymath Abu Mūsā Jābir ibn Hayyān, westernized by Europeans as "Geber," comes from chapter 33 of the publication Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres grecz, latins et…

This depiction of German polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, theologian, and occult writer Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486–1535) comes from chapter 107 of the publication Les vrais pourtraits et…

This representation of the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, who was greatly revered in the Renaissance era, comes from chapter 25 of the publication Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes…

The labors of an elderly alchemist are closely watched by a monkey which perches on the window above. The alchemist busies himself investigating samples wrapped in paper or notes in a cluttered workshop. The floor at…

A gray-bearded scholar in a red cap writes at his desk with a quill. Scattered in front of him are fabric-covered ceramic jars, a celestial globe, glass jars stoppered with twists, and a pipe. Illumination floods the…

Large workshop with many sculpted busts and figures. At left in front of window, a well-dressed seated man at table with open book. Celestial globe in center, and to right a seated man painting at easel holds pallet and…

This workshop scene highlights the many activities of an apothecary's assistants as they sort and process herbs and plants, distill organic substances for medicine, and prepare doses. Large racks of glass distillation…

The walls of this busy and productive apothecary's shop are lined with glass vessels and earthenware jars used for the preparation and storage of drugs, tonics and purgatives. The apothecary sits at his desk, conversing…

An iatrochemist performs a uroscopy, examining a small glass flask, while other activities take place in his busy workshop. A woman is waiting for her diagnosis, having brought the flask of urine in the wicker basket…

An alchemist wearing a green robe uses a pair of bellows to control the heat of the fire beneath his crucible. Other vessels sit on the furnace at his side, and an animal skull hangs from a peg. A hammer and tongs…

This scene depicts tools and materials used both in alchemy and in art—most notably the large écorché figure placed on the alchemist's table, which was used by artists and students of human anatomy. A human skull,…

A bald alchemist stands at his furnace on the right, stirring the contents of his crucible while reading a small book. His young apprentice stands by, attentively looking to the alchemist for guidance. Books and other…

A busy chemical workshop with a man in furred collar and physician’s cap, examines a flask, conducting a medical diagnostic or urinoscopy. He consults an open book while at right a woman and a man await results. In…

A painting in brunaille, a monochromatic image in tones of brown. This painting shows a seated alchemist in peasant garb. In his hands he holds a crucible and a pair of tongs, working before the light of a glowing fire…

An alchemist reads a large book, seated in a cluttered laboratory with drapery-strewn arched ceilings. The scene is illuminated by the glow of daylight from an open window. His desk is piled high with open texts, folios…

A dark study illuminated by single leaded glass window at left; in middle ground a seated man behind cluttered desk faces slightly left; open and closed books, papers, jars and jugs scattered on floor; at right a seated…

In the apothecary's workshop a man pours liquid from a jar into blue earthenware vessels. He is surrounded by copper bowls, jars, and sacks of endive and other herbs and vegetables likely used for medical preparations…

An alchemist in a calf-length robe holds up a book in one hand, reading with close attention as he stirs a substance in a small crucible. The tabletop beside him is littered with glassware and distillation vessels. In a…

The alchemist's experiment has erupted in a sudden fire, with glass shattering in midair and smoke billowing upward. The alchemist is seated awkwardly in his chair with a startled expression on his face, having turned…

Men feed wood into furnaces and stoke flames in this spacious laboratory, populated with large masonry furnaces for the smelting and working of metals. This scene also contains a list of alchemical elements in Latin.…

This etching, by the Italian engraver and etcher Giuseppe [Joseph] Longhi, reproduces a work by the Dutch master of chiaroscuro, Rembrandt van Rijn. The original painting traveled to France in the 18th century and…