Flemish Mannerist painter (early 17th century)
Portrait of Hermes Trismegistus (Egyptian alchemist who lived in the 13th century BC)
Oil on panel
41 x 33 cm - In antique frame 51 x 43 cm
The work belongs to a series of three paintings, together with the portraits of the alchemists Geber (link) and Morieno Romano (link)
The painting portrays an alchemist, an ancient figure who has always carried charm and mystery due to his perfect combination of science and esotericism, who aimed to conquer omniscience, or the maximum knowledge in all fields of knowledge. Among the great goals of alchemy was the search for the elixir of eternal life or the transformation of base metals into gold, a practice that was believed to be achievable through the "philosopher's stone".
The alchemist, therefore, with his practices and secret knowledge, is a figure described on the border between scholar and magician, capable of performing extraordinary transformations, well represented here by a Flemish Mannerist painter active between the 16th and 17th centuries.
In our case, it is specifically the portrait of Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary figure from the Hellenistic age, sometimes considered as a deity (identified by the Greeks with the Egyptian god Thoth), other times as a man, considered the founder of alchemy and the master of all occult sciences, as well as the philosophical current known as Hermeticism.
Venerated as a master of wisdom, he is considered the author of the "Corpus Hermeticum", a collection of writings, mainly in Greek, that contain philosophical, theological, and magical teachings, considered to originate from an ancient wisdom.
The alchemist holds an unrolled scroll in his hand, on which we can read the locution 'quod est superius est sicut quod inferius et quod inferius est sicut quod est superius', taken from the Emerald Tablet, a short text that inspired alchemists and, according to popular legend, written by Hermes Trismegistus himself.
His figure is here compared to the phoenix, the legendary bird that in ancient mythology renews itself from fire, and is therefore associated with immortality, the ability to overcome death and be reborn. Alchemy seeks to transform common substances into gold through a process that can be seen as a metamorphosis similar to the phoenix that renews itself from fire.
The subject is inspired by the print of the frontispiece of the alchemical treatise 'Basilica chymica' (1608) by Oswald Croll (Wetter, 1560 - Prague, 1609), a German alchemist and physician of Emperor Rudolf II, which depicts the most famous alchemists in history, and arcane formulas inserted in geometric symbols.
Detail of the cover of the alchemical treatise 'Basilica chymica' (1608) written by Oswald Croll (Wetter, 1560 - Prague, 1609) (https://pt.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Hermes_Trismegistus_illustration_Wellcome_L0016507.jpg)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The painting is sold complete with an antique frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.
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