Trismosin's Splendor Solis online

[P3nT4gR4m]

Personally I've never seen the whole collection before and wanted to for a long time. Posted here for anyone else who likes that sort of thing

http://www.hermetics.org/solis/solis.html

[LMNO]

What the hell am I looking at?

[P3nT4gR4m]

16th Century hermetic art. Click the link - explains everything on page 1.

The Splendor Solis is one of the most beautiful of illuminated alchemical manuscripts. The earliest version, considered to be that now in the Kupferstichkabinett in the Prussian State Museum in Berlin, is dated 1532-35, and was made in the form of a medieval manuscript and illuminated on vellum, with decorative borders like a book of hours, beautifully painted and heightened with gold. The later copies in London, Kassel, Paris and Nuremberg are equally fine.
The work itself consists of a sequence of 22 elaborate images, set in ornamental borders and niches. The symbolic process shows the classical alchemical death and rebirth of the king, and incorporates a series of seven flasks, each associated with one of the planets. Within the flasks a process is shown involving the transformation of bird and animal symbols into the Queen and King, the white and the red tincture. This echoes the Pretiosissimum Donum Dei sequence which is probably earlier, dating from the 15th century. Although the style of the Splendor Solis illuminations suggest an earlier date, they are quite clearly of the 16th century.
The Splendor Solis was associated with the legendary Salomon Trismosin, allegedly the teacher of Paracelsus. The Trismosin writings were later published with woodcut illustrations, in the Aureum Vellus, oder Guldin Schatz und Kunst-kammer, 1598, which was reprinted a number of times. A French translation, entitled La Toyson d'or, ou la fleur des thresors was issued in Paris in 1612 with a number of very fine engravings, some copies of which were hand-coloured.
The following images were provided by Andre Le Sage.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The 22 Colored Plates depicting the 22 Alchemical Stages of Salomon Trismosin's "Splendor Solis" are available for browsing from this page. The original manuscript of these plates is in the British Museum, and dated 1582. Though the earliest version is considered to be at Kupferstichkabinett in the Prussian State Museum in Berlin, and dated 1532-35. The text of this famous work have been translated by Joscelyn Godwin and printed by Phanes Press. A Yogi Publications edition also contains a biography of Trismosin, with his quest for and eventual attainment of the Philosopher Stone written in 1498. The only colored plates ever printed were by James Wasserman's fine work "Art and Symbols of the Occult", Greenwich Editions, London, 1993. More information on the Splendor Solis can be obtained from Adam MacLean's magnificent Virtual Alchemy site . The Virtual Alchemy also have the 22 color plates with comments, but the pictures at our site are of high resolution, they may take a long time to open, but will offer much detail detail for study and appreciation.  

I read the whole thing and I still don't know what it is.

Maybe I will ask AQUA BOY!

[LMNO]

Sounds like Kabalah taken seriously.


SSOOKN does not appove.  Pretty, though.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Sounds like Kabalah taken seriously.


SSOOKN does not appove.  Pretty, though.

That's about as seriously as I take medieval occultism. There's a lot of it about. Mainly woodcuts and engravings. Trismosin was basically the Rembrandt of this field of art. Also worth a look are von Stolcenberg, Maier and some dude called William Blake. He was much later, tho - fkin thing had been done to death by the time he arrived. More of a tribute act than than a real player.

[NotPublished]

Wow this collection is cool! I found it kind of inspirational, Even though halfway through all I could say "whats the hell is going on..."

Almost thought that was Spiderman for a second!

[Telarus]

This is cool.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Beware trying to decode all the symbolism - it gets addictive real quick. Kinda like tarot cards but with a lot more depth

[Cain]

Bump.  I'm going to forward this onto an art historian friend of mine, to get her verdict.  It's even from the right period of time that she specializes in, so she'll likely get a kick out of it.