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

Previous title, replaced June 2023 : A peacock in a crowned alchemical flask; representing the stage in the alchemical process when the substance breaks out into many colours. Watercolour painting.

1900-1909

1 painting : watercolour ; image 41.8 x 19.6 cm.

Painted by Edith Annie Ibbs (1863-1937) on commission from the secretary of the Historical Medical Exhibition organized by Henry S. Wellcome (C.J.S. Thompson), ca. 1907, and subsequently exhibited in the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, Wigmore Street, London

For detailed information on this series, cf. J. van Lennep, L'alchimie, Brussels 1984, pp. 110-129

This image is one of a sub-series in the 'Splendor solis', showing crowned alchemical flasks containing symbols of the various stages of the Great Work. In the original manuscript, scenes of symbolically relevant activities in village life are shown outside the image, along with an astronomical sign at the top

Wellcome Collection 38825i

After: Salomon Trismosin, Splendor solis, 1582, British Library, Harley ms. 3469