Splendor Solis, manuscript text by by Salomon Trismosin, (1582)
These 22 beautiful images portray stages of the alchemical opus.
While there is an interesting parallel of these pictures to the
22 Trumps of the Tarot, a card by card equivalence does
not seem to exist. One expert, Adam McClean, suggests that the
first four plates depict the initial stages of the Prima Materia,
the fundamental basis of the work. The next seven pictures show
an alchemical allegory. These are followed by another seven pictures
showing the transformative operations within the retort,
i.e. the alchemical vessel. The last four plates show the End of
the Work. In the final picture we see the unification of the
Cosmic Sun with the fertile Earth, the completion of
which Trismosin describes as a gift from God and one
requiring contemplation and meditation to fully
comprehend.
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