It is of course also a possibility to see the colors as elements. I tend rather to regard green and blue as liquid substances and yellow as solid substance ( You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. ). But red would be fire/heating in any case. So there would be four components instead of four elements. I base my assumption on the observation that green and blue are indeed both liquids.
As for the great work, as far as I know, in the late Middle Ages there was a reduction from four to three levels ( the yellowing was dropped ). The division into seven or even twelve levels is of course also possible but does not have to be. I have found in my recent research even a very "simple" recipe from the late Middle Ages that is translated from Greek to German just eight (!) Lines of text long. All that is used is mercury, sulfur, "clay of art" ( ? ) and some pure gold (1:10). So gold making was sometimes very quick and easy
I'm not saying that in Q13 necessarily the great work is shown. There are also some other options, for example "aqua ignea rectivicata" or "aqua vitae". One was usually content with the four times distillation for ordinary remedies.
As for the great work, as far as I know, in the late Middle Ages there was a reduction from four to three levels ( the yellowing was dropped ). The division into seven or even twelve levels is of course also possible but does not have to be. I have found in my recent research even a very "simple" recipe from the late Middle Ages that is translated from Greek to German just eight (!) Lines of text long. All that is used is mercury, sulfur, "clay of art" ( ? ) and some pure gold (1:10). So gold making was sometimes very quick and easy
I'm not saying that in Q13 necessarily the great work is shown. There are also some other options, for example "aqua ignea rectivicata" or "aqua vitae". One was usually content with the four times distillation for ordinary remedies.