England & the Rhineland, 16th–17th c.

The Blue Furnace

A bright blue furnace with fire at its door, a red vessel on top pouring into a jug at its side.

Work: Miscellanea Alchemica XXIV (Wellcome Collection)
Artist / creator: Unknown German scribe and illuminator
Origin & date: Germany, dated 1543 (15xliii); German, the last two tracts in Latin
Held by: Wellcome Collection, London (Miscellanea Alchemica XXIV)

Format

The full-resolution color-managed file — yours to print, study, and keep.

Size

Sized to protect print quality — this scan’s resolution supports sizes up to 18x24 cleanly.

$24.00

The story

A bright blue furnace stands in the upper corner of the page, red fire glowing through an arched door in its base. On top sits a fat red vessel with a long beak that pours down into a small jug hanging at the side. Around it the German text runs in brown ink with a heading in heavier letters. The Wellcome identifies this leaf as folio 54 recto of Miscellanea Alchemica XXIV, from a tract on the red stone, De lapide rubeo, possibly by Sedacerius. The volume is dated 1543 and carries the bookplate of Thomas South. The blue was chosen for no reason the chemistry needed, and it makes the furnace the brightest thing on the leaf.

About this reproduction

Faithful reproduction of a public-domain work, sourced from Wellcome Collection, London (Miscellanea Alchemica XXIV)’s open-access release.
Printed to order on archival cotton-rag stock, pigment inks rated 100+ years.
Color-managed to the source scan.
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Image courtesy of the Wellcome Collection, London, licensed CC BY 4.0.

In situ