''Splendor Solis'' ("The Splendour of the Sun") is a version of the illuminated

alchemical Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

text attributed to Salomon Trismosin. This version dates from around 1582. The earliest version, written in

Central German Central German or Middle German (german: mitteldeutsche Dialekte, mitteldeutsche Mundarten, Mitteldeutsch) is a group of High German dialects spoken from the Rhineland in the west to the former eastern territories of Germany. Central German di ...

, is dated 1532–1535 and is part of the

Kupferstichkabinett Berlin The Kupferstichkabinett, or Museum of Prints and Drawings, is a prints museum in Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Berlin State Museums, and is located in the Kulturforum on Potsdamer Platz. It is the largest museum of graphic art in Ger ...

collection at the State Museums in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. It is illuminated on vellum, with decorative borders like a

book of hours The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscri ...

, meticulously painted and highlighted with gold. The later copies in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

are equally fine. Twenty versions exist worldwide. The original of ''Splendor Solis'', which contained seven chapters, appeared in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

. In miniatures the works of

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

, Hans Holbein and

Lucas Cranach Cranach is a German-language surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Augustin Cranach (1554–1595), German painter *Hans Cranach (c. 1513–1537), German painter *Lucas Cranach the Elder (c. 1472–1553), German artist *Lucas Cranach th ...

were used. The author of the manuscript was considered to be the legendary Salomon Trismosin, allegedly the teacher of

Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He ...

, though the name is believed to be a pseudonym. The work consists of a sequence of 22 elaborate images, set in ornamental borders and niches. The symbolic process shows the classical alchemical death and rebirth of the king, and incorporates a series of seven flasks, each associated with one of the then-known planets. Within the flasks a process is shown involving the transformation of bird and animal symbols into the Queen and King, the white and the red

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

. Although the style of the ''Splendor Solis'' illuminations suggest an earlier date, they are clearly of the 16th century.

Gallery

File:Splendor Solis 02 philosopher with flask.jpg , Philosopher with a flask File:Splendor Solis 04 solar king and lunar queen meet.jpg , The solar king and lunar queen meet File:Splendor Solis 05 miners excavating hill.jpg , Miners excavating a hill File:Splendor Solis 06 philosophers beside tree.jpg , Philosophers beside a tree File:Splendor Solis 07 drowning king.jpg , The drowning king File:Splendor Solis 08 resurrection out of swamp.jpg , Resurrection out of the swamp File:Splendor Solis 09 hermaphrodite with egg.jpg , Hermaphrodite with an egg File:Splendor Solis 10 severing head of king.jpg , Severing the head of the king File:Splendor Solis 12 saturn dragon and child.jpg , Saturn dragon and child File:Splendor Solis 19 dark sun.jpg , Dark sun File:Splendor Solis 21 women washing clothes.jpg , Women washing clothes File:Splendor Solis 22 sun rising over city.jpg , Sun rising over the city

References

External links

* * * *
Splendor solis cards (all 22 cards) for free download in print quality
retrieved 2020-02-17 {{Alchemy, state=expanded Alchemical documents 16th-century manuscripts German manuscripts