Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

[nablator]

It has been claimed that Zosimos' works were not rediscovered until the Renaissance. However, I have been unable to find any evidence to support this. In my opinion, it is just as possible that texts by Zosimos were already available in the late Middle Ages.

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edit: Venezia, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Gr. Z. 299 (=584), from the 10th-11th cetury
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I don't think one can find evidence that a Greek author was not known in the Latin West, I cannot imagine what such evidence could be.

No evidence is evidence, when the subject is well studied...

No known direct translation before Berthelot or even any reference to Zosimos in Latin alchemy books is pretty good evidence of non-circulation in medieval Europe.

Although Zosimos was a prolific writer, all his books have been lost and what remains of them today are mere passages and quotes written in the original Greek language, or translated to Syriac or Arabic. The Greek and Syriac texts have been translated to French by Berthelot (1885, 1888, 1893) and discussed in detail by Halleux (1979) and Mertens (1990).

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The influence was indirect and practical: the invention of the alambic for distillation passed to Europe through Arabic sources.

Les alchimistes grecs, en particulier Marie la Juive et Zosime, ont transformé cet appareil fruste en véritable alambic en surélevant le chapiteau au-dessus de la cucurbite pour éviter les débordements, et en le dotant d’un tuyau de décharge. Les vapeurs, condensées sur les parois du chapiteau, étaient recueillies par le bord annulaire de celui-ci, puis évacuées par un tuyau. Pour isoler des substances dont le point d’ébullition est peu élevé, il manquait un dispositif adéquat de refroidissement : Zosime refroidissait le chapiteau avec des éponges. Sous cette forme, l’alambic passe aux Arabes, puis à l'Occident, avec des applications dans les domaines les plus divers.

Robert Halleux, Les textes alchimiques (1979) p. 130-131

Google translation:

Greek alchemists—notably Maria the Jewess and Zosimus—transformed this rudimentary apparatus into a true alembic by raising the head above the body to prevent boil-over and by equipping it with a discharge tube. Vapors condensing on the inner walls of the head were collected in its annular rim and then channeled out through a tube. An adequate cooling mechanism was lacking for isolating substances with low boiling points; Zosimus cooled the head using sponges. In this form, the alembic passed to the Arabs and subsequently to the West, finding applications in a wide variety of fields.