Theophrastus von Hohenheim, called Paracelsus (1493-1541)

Image 1

Name: Woodcut of Paracelsus
Author: Augustin Hirschvogel
Date: 1538
Medium: Woodcut
Location: Wellcome Library
Photo by: n/a
Copyright: CC BY 4.0 (Attribution 4.0 International).
Permalink: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/xdha4ax4
Description: This is the only surviving image of Paracelsus from his lifetime, at the age of 45 (in 1538), 3 years before his death. It bears Paracelsus's motto: Alterius non sit, qui suus esse potest (roughly meaning, 'One shouldn't belong to another who can belong to himself').

Image 2

Name: Epitaph of Paracelsus
Author: n/a
Date: 1541?
Medium: Stone
Physical Location: Salzburg, Austria
Photo Location: Wellcome Library
Photo by: unknown
Copyright: CC BY 4.0 (Attribution 4.0 International).
Permalink: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/r93stnem
Description: This epitaph was often cited by followers of Paracelsus to prove that he had cured so-called incurable diseases like syphilis. 

Image 3

Name: Portrait of Paracelsus
Author: Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Date: n/a
Medium: Painting, Oil on canvas
Size: 77.5 x 54.5 cm
Physical Location: Brussels Museum of Fine Arts (BOZAR), https://www.fine-arts-museum.be/fr/la-collection/peter-paul-rubens-portrait-de-paracelse​
Image Location: Flickr
Photo by: Frans Vandewalle
Copyright: CC BY-NC 2.0 (Attribution Non-Commercial 2.0 Generic).
Permalink: https://flic.kr/p/6E8vDQ
Description: This is Rubens' version of an older original, presumed to be by Quentin Metsys.
For more on the (often contradictory) depictions of Paracelsus, see Andrew Cunningham, 'Paracelsus Fat and Thin: Thoughts on Reputations and Realities', in Ole Peter Grell, Paracelsus: The Man and His Reputation, His Ideas and Their Transformation (Leiden: Brill, 1998).