An Alchemist and His Assistant

Warm light from an open window at left falls on the seated figure of an alchemist and his standing assistant. The alchemist glances up from his writing, quill in hand, as his assistant carries in a small vessel. On the floor beside a large mortar and pestle and a blue-and-white apothecary’s jar, an opened text reveals a pair of illustrations: one botanical, the other anatomical, suggesting the alchemist's wide-ranging knowledge and his command over nature.