<div class="description">
A bearded alchemist sits in the midst of a bustling workshop, tending a small brazier of coals with a hand-bellows. Objects for metalworking- including an anvil, crucible, furnace and hammer- are joined by vessels for distillation and small apothecary jars with cloth lids. In the background, eight assistants or apprentices work to mix and grind materials, tend fires, and perform examinations. The hanging stuffed iguana and animal skulls indicate the alchemist's familiarity with the workings of nature, yet the skulls also act as "vanitas" or vanity objects which remind the viewer of life's passing.</div>
1700s
This file was contributed to Wikimedia Commons by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Science_History_Institute" class="extiw" title="w:en:Science History Institute"><span title="library, museum, and archive in Philadelphia, United States">Science History Institute</span></a> as part of a cooperation project. The donation was facilitated by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Public_Library_of_America" class="extiw" title="w:Digital Public Library of America">Digital Public Library of America</a>, via its partner PA Digital.<span style="text-align:left">
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/z029p5724">Record in source catalog</a></li>
<li>DPLA identifier: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://dp.la/item/0c12285eeda18af0a09dc893e6e2cc8a">0c12285eeda18af0a09dc893e6e2cc8a</a></li>
<li>Science History Institute identifier: padig:SHI-z029p5724</li></ul></span>