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Hermetic Gallery

The Hermetic Gallery series presents highlights from early and contemporary printed books and manuscripts that are either part of, or related to, the Library's collections. The text is taken from 'The Hermetic Museum - Alchemy & Mysticism' by Alexander Roob, published by Taschen Verlag in 1996.
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The Ritman Library
an open book with black and white drawings on it's pages, including the title page
Astronomy
Tumblr
Medieval Music
Sacred Circle
Max Ernst
Free Mind
Book Of Hours
Black And White Illustration
Pretty Pictures
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
Coenders van Helpen, Escalier des sages, 1689 - Chaos, formed from heat, moisture, frost, concealment and dryness. 'Outwardly it is the Jewish en-soph, and one with the night of Orpheus: O Night you black wet-nurse of the golden stars! From this darkness all things that are in this world have come as from its spring or womb'. (Philalethes, pseudonym of Thomas Vaughan, Magia academica London, 1650) www.ritmanlibrary.com
an old drawing of a mermaid and a man on a boat in the water with two dolphins
Alchemy Images
Fish People
Art Vampire
Dengeki Daisy
Fantasy Mermaids
Odd Stuff
Esoteric Art
Mermaid Painting
Samurai Tattoo
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
D. Stolcius v. Stolcenberg, Viridarum chymicum, Frankfurt, 1624 - The Persian doctor and philosopher Avicenna said that virgin's milk consist of two waters. ('Mineralia' in: Artis Auriferae, Basle, 1593) These are the lunar and the solar liquids, of which the ‘’mercury of the philosophers’’ consists. The two must be cooked together by Vulcan, so the philosophical sea is transformed into gold. www.ritmanlibrary.com
an old book with a drawing of a man sitting on a throne in the middle
Ink Drawings
Alchemy
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Durer
Historical Maps
Vintage Wall Art
Vintage Wall
Metropolitan Museum Of Art
Vintage Walls
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
Woodcut from the ‘Amores’ of Conrad Celtis, Albrecht Dürer, Nuremberg, 1502 - Top: 'The Greeks call me Sophia, the Romans Sapientia. The Egyptians and Chaldaeans invented me, the Greeks wrote me down, the Romans handed me down, the Germans expanded me.' Bottom: 'That which constitutes the essence of heaven earth, air and water, and that which embraces the life of man, as well as that which the fiery God creates in the whole world: I, Philosophia, bear all in my breast.' www.ritmanlibrary.com
a drawing of a man surrounded by angels
William Blake Paintings
William Blake Art
Prairie School
Morgan Library
William Blake
Visionary Art
Rembrandt
Great Artists
Artwork Painting
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
The Sun at its Eastering Gate, W. Blake, c. 1815 - “For all are Men in Eternity, Rivers, Mountains, Cities, Villages, All are Human, & when you enter into their Bosoms you walk, In Heavens & Earths, as in your own Bosom you bear your Heaven, And Earth & all you behold; tho’ it appears Without, it is Within, In your Imagination, of which this World of Mortality is but a Shadow.” (W. Blake, Jerusalem) www.ritmanlibrary.com
an open book with a painting on the front and side of it, depicting people in a landscape
Kassel
Splendor Solis
Alchemical Art
Medieval Illumination
Alchemy Art
Sheep Art
Library Catalog
Magnum Opus
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
S. Trismosin, Splendor solis, London, 16th century - "And this prima Materia is found in a mountain which contains a huge number of created things. Within this mount all kinds of knowledge can be found which exist in the world. There is no science or knowledge, no dream or thought (…) that is not contained therein." (Abu’l-Qasim, Kitab al- ‘ilm, Ed Holmyard, Paris, 1923) www.ritmanlibrary.com
an old drawing of a naked man holding a ball in his right hand and looking at the viewer
Red Sky At Morning
Lightning Flash
Tables Set
Science Museum
Antiquarian Books
Holy Ghost
Red Sky
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
D.A. Freher, in: Works of J. Behmen, Law edition, 1764 - "For the Holy Ghost cannot be grasped and fixed in sinful flesh; but it ascends like a lightning flash (…) But if the lightning flash is caught in the spring of the heart, it ascends to the brain in the seven source-spirits like the red sky at morning: and in it are purpose and knowledge.” (J. Böhme, Aurora) www.ritmanlibrary.com
an old painting with stars on it and the moon in the middle, surrounded by other people
Constellations
Medieval Manuscript
Illuminated Manuscripts
Illuminated Manuscript
Giclee Painting
In The Middle
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
Twelve pagan astrologers (including the poet Virgil and the philosophers Seneca and Aristotle) immersed in the interpretation of the stars. Book of oracles in rhyming couplets, Central Germany, 14th century. www.ritmanlibrary.com
an image of a man floating in the water
Ancient Art
Secret Society Symbols
Tsunami Waves
World Religions
The Amazing World Of Gumball
Moyen Age
Art Graphique
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
Michael Maier, Atalanta fugiens, Oppenheim, 1618 - If one fetches the king from the red sea (Mercurial water), says Maier, one should be careful that he does not lose his crown, for with its stones one could heal illnesses. Afterwards one should place him in a steam bath, so that he losses the water that he has swallowed, and then marry him, so that he produces a royal son. www.ritmanlibrary.com
an ornate painting with angels and cherubs in the center, surrounded by flowers
Franz Xaver Winterhalter
Istoria Artei
Romantic Period
Caspar David Friedrich
Web Gallery
European Paintings
Romantic Art
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
Ph. O. Runge, Der kleine Morgen, Hamburg, 1808 - Runge planned this painting as part of a cycle on the four seasons as the “four dimensions of the created spirit”. Morning represents “the boundless enlightenment of the universe”, night (the black sun) “the boundless destruction of the existence in the origin of the universe”. Light is symbolized in the lily, and the three groups of children “relate to the trinity”. Lily and dawn symbolize the rise of the age of the spirit. www.ritmanlibrary.com
an image of a woman holding a baby in her arms while surrounded by other animals
Mother Earth Art
Illustrated Manuscript
Alice And Wonderland Quotes
Smart Art
Magic Aesthetic
Occult Art
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
Michael Maier, Atalanta fugiens, Oppenheim, 1618 - 'Its nurse is the Earth.' Mercurial water nourishes it. www.ritmanlibrary.com
Michael Maier, Atalanta fugiens, Oppenheim, 1618 - ’The wind bears it in its belly.' The birth of the philosophers stone occurs in the air. www.ritmanlibrary.com Book Of Shadows, Egypt, The Philosophers Stone, Philosophers Stone, Living Books, Philosophers, The Wind
Book Of Shadows
Egypt
The Philosophers Stone
Philosophers Stone
Living Books
Philosophers
The Wind
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
Michael Maier, Atalanta fugiens, Oppenheim, 1618 - ’The wind bears it in its belly.' The birth of the philosophers stone occurs in the air. www.ritmanlibrary.com
an image of a man standing in the middle of a circle with animals and people around him
Alchemy Symbols
Visual Culture
Pyramids Of Giza
Medieval Art
A Circle
15th Century
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
De Sphaera, Italian manuscript, 15th century - Saturn as ruler of the two signs of the zodiac, Aquarius and Capricorn. His children included the needy and the poor, peasants bound to the soil, lonely hermits, prisoners and murderers, but also the representatives of geometrical and astronomical scholarship. www.ritmanlibrary.com
an image of the sun surrounded by other symbols
Alchemy Illustration
Emerald Tablet
Angelo Guerriero
Masonic Art
Arte Occulta
Alchemic Symbols
Masonic Symbols
Occult Symbols
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
Ars magna lucis, A. Kircher, Rome, 1665 - Here, light and shade, as the Habsburg doubleheaded eagle, are assigned to the Sun (Apollo), and the colours, as a peacock, to the Moon (Diana). The beams of light represent degrees of knowledge, in which the sensorily perceptible in the Platonic sense, only achieves the status of a faint reflection of the divine light in the dark cave of the body. www.ritmanlibrary.com
an octopus and other animals are depicted in this medieval style painting, with the sun above it
Philosopher's Stone
Circle Jewelry
Stone Jewellery
A Discovery Of Witches
Art Ancien
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
Ripley Scroll, manuscript, 16th century - “The “Red Sea” in the caption above this detail from the Ripley Scroll was a well-known code name for the divine mercurial water and its tincturing power. Here it is depicted as the blood pouring from the heart of the “Serpent of Arabia”. It brings happiness to whomsoever finds it, and flows, round as a ball, to every place in the world, Ripley writes. www.ritmanlibrary.com
an image of a man holding a stick and wearing a purple dress with gold trimmings
Land Art
Gustav Klimt
Sacred Architecture
Tempera
Eastern Star
Byzantine Icons
Ancient Cultures
Dark Ages
EMBASSY OF THE FREE MIND
God measuring the world with the compass, c. 1250, Bible Moralisée - “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are Gods building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3, 9-11). www.ritmanlibrary.com