The Black Stage and the Peacock

A horned face burns on a ring of fire, labelled putrefaction, while a peacock spreads its tail higher up the page.

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)

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 grinning horned face sits on a ring of fire at the foot of the page, smoke pouring from its ears and a small white flask held in its open mouth. The label beside it reads Putrefactio seu Nigredo: putrefaction, or blackening, the darkest stage of the work. The heading at the top quotes Genesis, Et tenebrae factae sunt, and there was darkness. Between the two, a lion and a dark bird lie on green ground under the words beata Viriditas generans omnes res, blessed greenness that brings all things forth, and a peacock fans its tail, labelled Cauda Pavonis. Sun and crescent moon sit in the clouds. Page 74 of the Wellcome's Thesaurus thesaurorum reads downward like a forecast from inside the flask: light, then green, then rot.

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.
Ships in 5–8 business days; satisfaction guaranteed.

Image courtesy of the Wellcome Collection, London, licensed CC BY 4.0.

In situ