Miscellany of Alchemy
The key word of alchemy is “transmutation” and alchemists were concerned with changing both substances, i.e. turning base metals into gold, and perfecting humans both body and soul. A legendary substance capable of doing both was referred to as the “philosophers’ stone”, and is also a symbol of perfection and universal truth. The alchemists’ search for wisdom and even immortality and their efforts to transform substance also helped lay the foundations from modern science, chemistry in particular. This comprehensive Gothic alchemy manuscript was gorgeously adorned with enigmatic watercolors by Francesco da Barberino.
Miscellany of Alchemy
The now-debunked science of alchemy is concerned with the transmutation of substances, particularly the creation of gold from base metals. Nonetheless, the labors of the alchemists gave birth to modern chemistry and other sciences. Alchemists were also concerned with the heavens, the macrocosm, and its reflection in man, described as the microcosm. As such, they sought an elixir of immortality, panaceas to cure any disease, and other substances to perfect the human body and soul. Their belief in an all-encompassing knowledge, a universal truth, is perhaps best represented by the search for the philosophers’ stone, a legendary substance capable of changing base metals into noble metals or granting immortality. The philosophers’ stone has come to be a symbol of perfection, enlightenment, and heavenly bliss. The manuscript at hand, stored under the shelf mark MS Ashburnham 1166 in Florence’s Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, attributed to Johannes von Teschen, or Ticinensis. It is famous for a representation of a dying man shot with an arrow and being used as soil by a tree growing up from his genital area, and is named after its last private owner, Bertram Ashburham. The text is adorned with gorgeous, enigmatic watercolors attributed to Francesco da Barberino (1264–1348).
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Miscelánea De Alquimia
Sammlung der Alchemie - Size / Format
- 60 pages / 21.2 × 16.0 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- Ca. 1470
- Epochs
- Style
- Language
- Script
- Gothic
- Illustrations
- Watercolors
- Artist / School
- Francesco da Barberino (1264–1348) (illuminator)
Johannes von Teschen (Ticinensis) (author)
Miscellany of Alchemy
Abū Mūsā Jābir ibn Ḥayyān
Jabir ibn Hayyan was an 8th century polymath whose surviving Arabic texts deal with alchemy, chemistry, magic, and Shi’ite religious philosophy but is believed to have written on numerous other topics. However, historians still debate whether Jabir was ever a historical person, or a pseudonym used by one or more authors because he is not recorded in any historical source before c. 900. He was nonetheless praised centuries later for pioneering the use of vegetable and animal substances in alchemy.

Miscellany of Alchemy
Tree Growing from a Dying Man
Art historians generally agree upon the pictorial and precision and harmony of the miniatures in this manuscript, which must surely originate from the hand of a great painter of the Quattrocento, probably from the Bellini school, perhaps even Giovanni Bellini himself. The incredible delicacy and creativity of the watercolors and the attention to detail all point to a true master.
The most famous miniature in the manuscript depicts a man who is mortally wounded with an arrow and has a tree growing from his genitals. It is strongly reminiscent of an archetypal depiction of Eve emerging from the side of Adam as he sleeps and is also a reminder that we are made of the earth and will return to it one day, our bodies transformed to feed new life.

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