07-03-2022, 11:23 AM
You would be surprised at how recent some of those things are.
While part of the VM imagery certainly has an alchemical feel to it, comparison to alchemy suffers from two issues:
1. It is hard to find much from around the time of the VM. If you see something from an alchemical MS that reminds you of the VM, chances are that you are looking at a later work.
2. Specialists have pointed out that they don't see the VM belonging to any known traditions of alchemy.
That said, I completely understand why the comparison is so appealing. One partial explanation may be that alchemy drew on the same traditions the VM took inspiration from, like astronomy and various kinds of tetradic diagrams.
While part of the VM imagery certainly has an alchemical feel to it, comparison to alchemy suffers from two issues:
1. It is hard to find much from around the time of the VM. If you see something from an alchemical MS that reminds you of the VM, chances are that you are looking at a later work.
2. Specialists have pointed out that they don't see the VM belonging to any known traditions of alchemy.
That said, I completely understand why the comparison is so appealing. One partial explanation may be that alchemy drew on the same traditions the VM took inspiration from, like astronomy and various kinds of tetradic diagrams.