The presence of an armor helmet on a tree of Life and two ornate rods may prove their symbolical relevance and meaning in this less-known engraving.
Benedetto Mazzotta was a seventeenth-century Italian benedictine monk and wrote “De Triplici Philosophia Naturali, Astrologica et Minerali, or threefold natural, astrological, and mineral philosophy. He had it published in Bologna in 1653. Early in the frontispiece, we find a clueing image with a cherub, among others, holding two ornate rods and rushing to acclaim an exceptionally equipped tree of life.
The engraving does not appear to be the usual publisher’s logo that many books of the period present. Very often, a little image is hermetically pregnant, accompanied by all the editorial products of some influential editors and publishers. A typical example is the Manutius anchor with a dolphin. The image in Mazzotta’s book is instead a sophisticated engraving, even signed on the bottom by its engraver: Il Coriolano in. (a short for incisore, Italian for engraver) and f. ( a short for the latin “fecit”, or did).
The scene centers around a tree of life bearing a coat of arms surmounted by a plumed helmet. To increase the general heraldic allure is the presence of a little castle set on six tiny hills, and three lily flowers are in the coat of arms upper part.
Putti in ovation are standing on the ground. At the same time, two little winged cherubs are flying above, each carrying peculiar objects: two ornate rods and a plumed helmet. A third cherub is winging his way carrying a crown. Another crown is held by the rods holding the cherub.
The key symbol of the scene is the plumed cap. Let’s start calling it by its real name. The scenery will take an alchemical setting if we identify it as a cap, not as a heraldic armor’s headpiece. In Italian, as Benedetto Mazzotta was, an armor’s helmet is “elmo”, and an alembic’s cap is “elmo”. The sentence ” put an elmo to the alembic” is everywhere in ancient Italian chemistry treatises. If you look carefully at the helmet, you can notice that the aperture strangely looks like a keyhole.
One may ask oneself why a tree keeps up the coat of arms. The latin motto unrolled by one of the putti should give us an answer. ” Altiora peto, ergo in excelsis“. Altiora is a plural comparative form of altus/high. Peto (1) is a multi-meaning verb signifying head-claim-wish, thus: ” I wish for higher places, that’s to say for the exceptionally good”. And what may seem a strong nonsense feeling to acquire aristocracy ( the coat of arms) is instead a wish to see the accomplishment of one’s alchemical efforts.
Almost all of us are familiar with the ancient alembic ideas: a distilling apparatus, now obsolete, consisting of a gourd-shaped container and a cap with a long beak for conveying the products to a receiver. That’s a bottle with a cap, the most important alembic part. From the Greek ambix, ambik means cup or cap.
In preparatory works ( see an Opus Magnum scheme), we have to raise an insoluble salt to the upper part of an alembic. Although these operations may involve different raw matters and tools, the most recognized volatilizing system is the use of alembic. This is a crucial operation, whatever system you decide to perform. Then get the products to solidify ( stage represented by the little hills) and have it sublimated or distilled repeatedly for at least six times (six hills). The seventh will appear different from the others, and the construction castle of our Mercurius Philosophorum will be achieved.
Another symbol for our Mercurius/Secret Fire is the white lily flower since a shining white will announce the “crowning” of a successful operation. The cap’s plume is another Mercurius synonym, indicating its impalpable volatility. To this concern, it is not so easy to state if the putto with the trumpet is taking part in the heraldic glory, or what (2). Never see an alchemical image in which a single detail runs off the contest.
The whole process necessarily deserves to be crowned since the product will announce the following creation of a king and a queen. And the Master of the operation will be entitled to hold the sacred rods, decorated as scepters, but with a deeper meaning. The rod holder has mastered the rock, as Moses did (3), and made the spring of our alchemical water/Mercurius/Secret Fire flow (4). That’s to say to acquire a proper life since we often have to do with smokes and powders. And others with even strangers, and never seen things.
Mazzotta’s engraving, but I should say Il Coriolano’s, puts an alembic apparatus on display so we can imagine a necessary solvent to force salts to circulate. Some difficult-to-believe little wooden rods may substantially take part in other dry ways or paths.
See also Pietro Perugino and the Moon, Lady of the Rod ;
- The capital P of peto is broken. In the case of an F, the verb feto, we would have to spawn, fecundate. The difference would not have been so significant since the alchemical embryo is still in the higher part of an alembic. But, frankly, I don’t think a putto is a perfect character to fulfill the task;
- See also Philosophia Reformata & the Angel with a Trumpet ;
- See also Cemetery of Priscilla and the Alchemical Rod Origin ;
- See also Santi Pupieni and the Raising Black-New Moon ;