Ripley Scroll: Dragon and Philosopher

A green dragon hangs head-down beneath a sun, and the philosopher in red walks below with his staff.

Work: Rotulum hieroglyphicum G. Riplaei Equitis Aurati (Ripley Scroll, Wellcome MS 692)
Artist / creator: Unknown illuminator, after the scroll attributed to George Ripley (c. 1415-1490)
Origin & date: Early 17th century, copied from a copy made in 1588; English verse
Held by: Wellcome Collection, London (MS 692)

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 12x16 cleanly.

$24.00

The story

A green dragon hangs head-down beneath a sun and a crescent moon, its wings spread and drops of red falling from its body. Below the verses, the philosopher walks out of the roll in a red coat and boots, carrying over his shoulder the staff the Wellcome describes: "having a scroll wrapped round it, one end terminating in a spear-head, the other in a horse's hoof shod." These are the fourth and fifth panels of the Wellcome's MS 692, an early seventeenth-century copy of the scroll attributed to George Ripley, with thirty-eight lines of English verse at the foot of the dragon. The roll ends on a traveller, the man who has walked through every panel above.

About this reproduction

Faithful reproduction of a public-domain work, sourced from Wellcome Collection, London (MS 692)’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