Heinrich Khunrath (c. 1560–1605)

The most significant feature of this portrait is perhaps the display, in the lower corners outside the oval cartouche, of the accoutrements demonstrating that alchemy is a discipline which is both liberal and mechanical, theoretical and empirical. The books piled to the left show that various disciplines, traditions, and authorities on which Khunrath’s work rests, including the Bible, medicine, natural history, magic, and the Kabbalah as well as alchemy itself. On the opposing side are found an alembic, a retort, a small geologist’s hammer, scales, a small triangular crucible, and also (more surprisingly) a sword, musket, powder horn, and dagger (the former in particular an attribute of nobility).

Commentary. Howard Hotson (April 2019)