Aeson is rejuvenated by having his blood replaced by magic juices in a boiling vat; representing the process of self-destruction in order to attain the elixir of life. Watercolour painting by E.A. Ibbs after Salomon Trismosin.
- Ibbs, Edith A.
- Date:
- 1900-1909
- Reference:
- 38811i
- Part of:
- Splendor solis
- Pictures
- Online
Selected images from this work
View 2 imagesAbout this work
Also known as
Previous title, replaced June 2023 : A Christ-like figure seated in a boiling vat while a man works a bellows beneath it; representing the process of self-destruction in order to attain the elixir of life. Watercolour painting.
Description
The Harley MS of Splendor solis identifies the man in the vat as Aeson as described by Ovid in Metamorphoses VII, 234-293. Lennep claims that this image is related to a text by the ancient alchemist Zosimos of Panoplis, who writes: "These old sages voluntarily dismembered themselves and boiled the pieces until a perfect decoction took place, in order to change their feeble old age into a state of force and vigour". The image here also has Christian resonances of baptism and resurrection. In alchemy the dove represented the volatile spirit of putrefying matter (Lennep, p. 122)
Publication/Creation
1900-1909
Physical description
1 painting : watercolour ; image 36.9 x 25.3 cm.
Series
Contributors
Reference
Wellcome Collection 38811i
References note
J. van Lennep, L'alchimie, Brussels 1984, pp. 110-129
Creator/production credits
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
Reproduction note
After: Salomon Trismosin, Splendor solis, 1582, British Library, Harley ms. 3469, fol. 21v, seventh representation
Exhibitions note
Exhibited in ‘The Cult of Beauty’ at Wellcome Collection, London, 26 October 2023 – 28 April 2024
Type/Technique
Where to find it
Location Status Access Closed storesNote