Pretty medieval manuscript of the day is the Splendor solis, an alchemical treatise. The page is dominated by the illustration of three birds in a flask, but in the border on the bottom left is a pope.

I know less than nothing about alchemy, so I honestly have no clue what is going on here. I’ve found some websites which describe this image as ‘Jupiter’ - but I don’t understand why. Can anyone explain? Please do leave a comment below.

Image source: British Library MS 3469. Image declared as public domain on the British Library website.

• 2 months ago

• middle ages
• popes
• alchemy
• medieval art
• art
• medieval
• illuminated manuscripts
• british library
• fifteenth century

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    Some birds are symbolic in alchemy, so each...three birds (excluding

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