ALCHEMY - MUTUS LIBER, OR SILENT BOOK - PLATE 7. In the seventh plate, the laboratory processes continue. The distillate from the previous plates is now placed on an open dish, wetted and ground. This pulverized mixture is poured into a flask and heated on a stove until the liquid is evaporated. The residue is then ladled into another glass flask, where the form of each distillate is changed to an eight pointed star. The curious imagery of the third register probably summarizes in the green language of the alchemists the three stages described so blandly in the previous three plates. The
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Charles Walker Collection / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
MC6H7AFile size:
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1923 x 2767 px | 16.3 x 23.4 cm | 6.4 x 9.2 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
13 April 2018Photographer:
Charles Walker CollectionMore information:
This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
ALCHEMY - MUTUS LIBER, OR SILENT BOOK - PLATE 7. In the seventh plate, the laboratory processes continue. The distillate from the previous plates is now placed on an open dish, wetted and ground. This pulverized mixture is poured into a flask and heated on a stove until the liquid is evaporated. The residue is then ladled into another glass flask, where the form of each distillate is changed to an eight pointed star. The curious imagery of the third register probably summarizes in the green language of the alchemists the three stages described so blandly in the previous three plates. The Lunar-Chronos devouring figure is purified by flames, before being cleansed in a tub. He then severs the cord which binds him to the personification of Luna, the Moon, thus dispensing with one third of his former nature. This is a symbolic representation of the process of refinement - of what is called Separation - which is both an alchemical and a psychological procedure, in which the light is separated from the darkness. It is a process of redemption. The alchemical masterpiece, Mutus Liber (or Silent Book) first appeared in print during 1677 - probably brought into the light of day by the French alchemist, Jacob Saulat, as a book with 13 plates, which was later increased to one of 15 plates (as in the series available here). The book is almost without words, and such words as appear are rarely what they seem to be, and are certainly susceptible to more than one level of interpretation. The alchemical importance of the images resides in the subtle graphic symbolism. A clear exposition of this symbolism may be found in Adam McLean, A Commentary on the Mutus Liber, 1982.