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 the table
41 x 33 cm. – In antique frame 51 x 43 cm.

The work belongs to a series of three paintings, together with the portraits of the alchemists Geber (link) and Morieno Romano (link)

The painting portrays an alchemist, an ancient figure who has always been a bearer of fascination and mystery for his perfect blend of science and esotericism, who aimed to conquer omniscience, or the maximum of knowledge in all fields of knowledge. Among the great objectives of alchemy was the search for the elixir of eternal life or the transformation of poor metals into gold, a practice that was believed to be achievable through the "philosopher's stone".

The alchemist, therefore, with his secret practices and knowledge, is a figure described as being on the border between scholar and magician, capable of performing extraordinary transformations, well represented here by a Flemish Mannerist painter active between the 16th and 17th centuries.

In our case, in particular, it is the portrait of Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary figure of the Hellenistic age, sometimes considered a divinity (identified by the Greeks with the Egyptian god Thoth) and other times as a man, considered the founder of alchemy and the master of all occult sciences, as well as of the philosophical movement known as Hermeticism.

Venerated as a master of wisdom, he is considered the author of the “Corpus Hermeticum”, a collection of writings, mainly in Greek, containing philosophical, theological and magical teachings, considered to be the origin of an ancient wisdom.

The alchemist holds in his hand an unrolled parchment, 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 the alchemists and, according to popular legend, written by Hermes Trismegistus himself.

His figure is here compared to the phoenix, the legendary bird that in ancient mythology is renewed by 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 that renews itself by fire.

The subject is inspired by the print of the frontispiece of the alchemical treatise 'Basilica chymica' (1608) by Oswald Croll (Wetter, 1560 – Prague, 1609), German alchemist and physician to the emperor Rudolf II, which depicts the most famous alchemists in history, and arcane formulas inserted in geometric symbols.

Detail of the cover of the alchemical treatise 'Basilica chymica' (1608) written by Oswald Croll (Wetter, 1560 – Prague, 1609) (https://pt.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Hermes_Trismegistus_illustration_Wellcome_L0016507.jpg)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting is sold complete with an antique frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.

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