Axial Commons Image Treasury
Engraved alchemical emblem: a large vessel with an eagle atop, nude figures on each side, and three men at the base beneath a Latin inscription.

Emblem representing the path to the philosopher's stone in alchemy. Etching by Defehrt, 1768, after L.-J. Goussier, after the frontispiece to a 17th century book by Libavius.

An engraved alchemical emblem shows a large flask-like vessel topped by a winged eagle and a cloud, with figures of a lion and a sun and moon disc on its sides. Two nude figures flank the vessel, and three men struggle at its base beneath a labeled plinth reading "Paradigma Operis Philosophici."

Artist
Louis-Jacques Goussier
Date
[1768]
Medium
Emblem pictures Etchings
Source
Wellcome Collection
Size
2558 × 4000 px
Download full size
Public domain · Wellcome Collection marks it Public Domain Mark; made by 1768.
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: Public Domain Mark (Wellcome Collection)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Wellcome Collection

Español: Emblema alquímico del camino hacia la piedra filosofal, grabado de 1768

Un emblema alquímico grabado muestra una gran vasija con forma de frasco, coronada por un águila alada y una nube, con una figura de león y discos de sol y luna en sus costados. Dos figuras desnudas flanquean la vasija, y tres hombres forcejean en su base sobre un pedestal con una inscripción en latín.

Português: Emblema alquímico do caminho para a pedra filosofal, gravura de 1768

Um emblema alquímico gravado mostra um grande recipiente em forma de frasco, coroado por uma águia alada e uma nuvem, com a figura de um leão e discos de sol e lua nas laterais. Duas figuras nuas ladeiam o recipiente, e três homens se esforçam na base, sobre um pedestal com uma inscrição em latim.

More from Alchemy and Hidden Wisdom

Black-and-white woodcut of a armored rhinoceros standing in profile, with ornate patterned skin, on a printed book page.The historie of foure-footed beastes. : Describing the true and liuely figure of euery beaEtching of a bearded scholar holding a large glass jar beside a skeleton, with a seated patient and a caption at bottom.A scholar in a surgeon's workroom with a jar of spirits containing Saint Michael defeatingBearded man bathing in a blue vat over a fire, a white dove above, and a kneeling attendant tending the flame in an arched hall.Aeson is rejuvenated by having his blood replaced by magic juices in a boiling vat; represWatercolour of a bearded alchemist in red and blue robes holding a glass vessel, with a dark inscribed scroll above and a landscape behind him.An alchemical adept carrying the vase of Hermes, which is inscribed "Let us go to seek theWatercolour of a three-headed monster with white, red and blue heads coiled inside a pear-shaped glass flask topped by a golden crown.A three headed monster in an alchemical flask, representing the composition of the alchemiWatercolor of a red adobe church with two bell towers and crosses, with shawled figures gathered in the foreground and a wooden cross on a hill at right.Church, Rancho de Taos