Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

[Barbrey]

What’s the thread, Matthias?

I'm not sure what you mean. First of all, in the absence of readable text in the VMS, we can only work through the illustrations. For me it was and is an essential endeavor to find my way through the sheer mass of alchemical illustrations as best I can. Every transfer to parts of the VMS presupposes that motifs of alchemical imagery are taken up and interpreted. Here it is good to have a work at hand that presents and explains illustrations over time and also emphasizes recurring "traditions" (please do not take this too literally!).

For example, one can try to interpret Quire 13 as a coherent, alchemical process. There are illustrations that immediately catch the eye. Here is an example:

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Then there are other illustrations that obviously show how substances are separated (without clear assignment):



Here the comparison to a "normal" representation in the "Liber de secretis naturae seu de quinta essentia" (1498, Pseudo-Lull):



So the work consists of assembling such fragments into an overall picture (step by step). That would be my theme, so to speak. Admittedly, I am still far away from a presentable result.

Sorry, I misunderstood, thought you had a separate thread somewhere I had not read. These are good comparisons and I think you are right. I also think there could almost be a “language” of pipe parts and the apparatus to which the nymphs are attached. For instance, in f83r, “mercury” on the right, is described as becoming Vapor using a tall funnel. Sulphur is attached to a red bucket fishtail likely signifying salt or body. So I think what each nymph rides is important: a few look like upside down stoves, for instance. Then there are the ones where the pipes look like sections of snakes or octopus/squid. That’s where one might look for the names of particular piping apparatus or a process for a play on words? 

Btw, I found out that the “mercury” in the case of plant-based alchemy is almost always ethyl alcohol. Maybe you knew that, but I suddenly feel much clearer about it.