The Second Operation: Blood of the Lion

A boy in a red cap shoots an arrow into a lion, and the blood that falls waters a flowering plant.

Work: Thesaurus thesaurorum et secretum secretissimum (Wellcome MS 4775)
Artist / creator: Unknown author and illustrator
Origin & date: Probably c. 1725 (catalogue date "[1725?]"); Latin, with additions in German verse
Held by: Wellcome Collection, London (MS 4775)

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$24.00

The story

A boy in a feathered red cap draws his bow at close range and puts an arrow into the flank of a golden lion. The blood runs down onto a small plant that has come into red flower at the lion's feet. Above, the page is all instruction: Operatio Secunda, the second operation, headed Acetum Solvens, the dissolving vinegar, with a Latin recipe to grind the mineral, pour on rainwater, digest it and decant the redness, and a note in the margin, Sanguis Leonis, blood of the lion. A single flask with a red liquid hangs between text and picture. Page 11 shows the manuscript's habit plainly: the recipe gives the procedure, and the painting gives the reader a way to remember what colour success should be.

About this reproduction

Faithful reproduction of a public-domain work, sourced from Wellcome Collection, London (MS 4775)’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