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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. Lennep remarks upon the alchemical dictum that 'one must multiply the eagle in order to vanquish the lion more easily' (ibid. p. 125). Mercury is the principle of dissolution; the lion represents fixity.
Title
A Three-Headed Eagle in a Crowned Alchemical Flask, Representing Mercury Sublimated Three Times
Medium
watercolour on paper (?)
Measurements
H 40.6 x W 19.7 cm
Accession number
38823i
Acquisition method
presumed to be part of the collection formed by Henry S. Wellcome
Work type
Drawing & watercolour
Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road, London, Greater London NW1 2BE England
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