Portrait Of The Alchemist Hermes, Flemish Mannerist Painter 17th Century

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 portraits of the alchemists Geber (link) and Morieno Romano (link)


The painting depicts an alchemist, an ancient figure who has always been shrouded in fascination and mystery due to his perfect blend of science and esotericism, who sought to achieve omniscience, or the highest level of knowledge in all fields of learning. 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, with his secret practices and knowledge, is therefore a figure described as straddling the line between scholar and magician, capable of extraordinary transformations, well represented here by a Flemish Mannerist painter active between the 16th and 17th centuries.
In our case, it is, in particular, the portrait of Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary figure from the Hellenistic age, sometimes considered a deity (identified by the Greeks with the Egyptian god Thoth) and sometimes a man, considered the founder of alchemy and the master of all occult sciences, as well as of the philosophical current known as Hermeticism.
Venerated as a master of wisdom, he is believed to be the author of the “Corpus Hermeticum”, a collection of writings, mainly in Greek, containing philosophical, theological and magical teachings, considered to originate from ancient wisdom.
The alchemist holds an unrolled parchment in his hand, on which we can read the phrase “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, was written by Hermes Trismegistus himself.
His figure is juxtaposed here with the phoenix, the legendary bird that in ancient mythology is reborn 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 renewing itself from fire.
The subject is inspired by the frontispiece of the alchemical treatise “Basilica chymica” (1608) by Oswald Croll (Wetter, 1560 – Prague, 1609), a German alchemist and physician to Emperor Rudolf II, which depicts the most famous alchemists in history and arcane formulas inserted into geometric symbols.
https://pt.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Hermes_Trismegistus_illustration_Wellcome_L0016507.jpg
Detail of the cover of the alchemical treatise “Basilica chymica” (1608) written by Oswald Croll (Wetter, 1560 - Prague, 1609)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The painting is sold complete with an antique frame and comes with a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic card.
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