I'm sure we'd all like a closer look at the Teniers stuffed whatever-it-is.
This interesting blog, though not specifically alchemical, has a post on the domestic life of alchemists, and says: "crocodilians were commonly hung in the shops of apothecaries and other early modern drug-makers. They represented the natural wonders of the tropics, or 'Indies,' from which many such drugs hailed."
"Andrey Alekseyevich Shishkin (Russian: Андрей Алексеевич Шишкин; born 1960) is a Russian painter. His works are one of the most prominent examples of the modern Russian "pagan art" scene related to Slavic Native Faith in Russia."
"In the vast expanse of the desert, two monumental structures emerged: the Unity and Lunar totems. Each, while distinct in its design and symbolism, encapsulated the essence of Lauren Baker’s artistic journey and her profound understanding of the universe’s intricate tapestry.
The Lunar Totem celebrates introspection and our eternal link with the cosmos. Adorning its heart is a radiant diamond, symbolising an aura of peace and harmony. The moon, as Baker perceives, stands for reflection, intuition and our tether to the subconscious. Intertwined within the totem is the timeless Ankh, signifying life force and fertility. It became not just a work of art but a space for contemplation and connection under the vast desert sky.
Conversely, the Unity Totem serves as a harmonising force, melding both masculine and feminine energies. Its very core is marked by the alchemical earth symbol, emphasising equilibrium and interconnectedness. Anchoring it is a symbol of collaboration, urging attendees to embrace unity in a world that seeks harmonious coexistence."
"Early in 2023 a friend sent me a reproduction of the Alchemical Rebis as found in Heinrich Nollius's Theoria Philosophiae Hermeticae (1617). Given what I learned in 2016 about the vesica piscis functioning as a key of much of our world's ancient occult symbols and mythologies, I proceeded to overlay the vesica piscis on top of the Philosopher's Stone, a.k.a. Philosopher's Egg, World Egg or Cosmic Egg, that encompasses Nollius's Rebis, which in turn led to seeing deeper into the geometry and proportions of the Rebis's Stone/Egg and its contents. In Part 2 I will present a detailed illustration and discussion of the occult sacred geometry and proportions of Nollius's Rebis scene; but first I would like to lay out some of what is commonly understood about this alchemical imagery and to reconnect it with its long-forgotten Vedic and zodiacal basis."
"“Unfolded Worlds: Allegory, Alchemy, and The Image As Structure of Knowledge In Early Modern Northern European Scientific Books” focuses on alchemical book illustration. It places the corpus of alchemical images 1450-1650, found as both print and manuscript in significant British collections, within the broader scope of the intellectual history of Northern European books. I argue that alchemical book images do the essential work of making humanist arguments about matter as allegory, and transmitting those arguments across space and time."
"Shakespeare, in his sonnets, employs alchemical references in the sonnets that ultimately fail, in order to show how fruitless it is to pursue immortality. The poet urges the fair friend, who himself is like the self-consuming ouroboros, to father a child that will continue his legacy and allow the fair friend to live on via the child. Language associated with the child is alchemical, referencing distillation, vials, flasks, and the renewing power of the philosopher’s stone. The dark lady, the opposite of the fair friend in every way, can be explained as fulfilling alchemy’s union of opposites needed for a philosopher’s stone to be created. However, when the fabled medicinal baths cannot cure the poet of the ill love he has contracted from the dark lady, it becomes clear that, just as there is no philosopher’s stone, there is no immortality."
